By Mackenzie Price
MIDDLETOWN – Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused setbacks in all aspects of life, it also encouraged innovative ways to help communities during times of need. From Zoom calls to at-home events, charitable organizations quickly changed how they assisted their neighbors.
The Little Free Pantry turned out to be the perfect option for one group.
Monmouth County’s Cub Scout Pack 122 in the New Monmouth section of Middletown, used this design as a way to consistently aid their neighbors, which has become increasingly difficult because of the pandemic.
The Little Free Pantry concept began May 2016 when Jessica McLard of Fayetteville, Arkansas, constructed a wooden box containing food, personal care and paper items accessible to all members of the community during any time of the day. According to littlefreepantry.org, McLard wished for her spin on the Little Free Library concept to “pique local awareness of food insecurity while creating a space for neighbors to help meet neighborhood food needs.”
Over a month later, the CrystalRock Cathedral Women’s Ministries in Ardmore, Oklahoma, established a Blessing Box and, by August 2016, variations of the Little Free Pantry movement were globally recognized.
Cub Scout Pack 122 opened its own Little Free Pantry Oct. 30, across from the Middletown Reformed Church on Kings Highway.
Clare Russo, one of the pack leaders, described the fundamental guidelines for the service project.
“People can walk up to it and take out what they need or leave what they can,” Russo said. “We wanted to be able to help out in the community all of the time.”
The pack first had to build the pantry before they could begin helping the neighborhood. Cub Scout Master Christopher Harris commissioned his retired father Marcus Harris, who uses woodworking as a hobby, to construct the pantry.
Directions for building the relatively small, doored pantries are readily available online, so Marcus was able to quickly and efficiently build one for the Cub Scouts.
“It was kind of just giving him the overall dimensions, what we were planning to do with it, and then let him run with it,” Christopher said.
In the end, Russo, Christopher Harris and the rest of the Cub Scout Pack hope their Little Free Pantry will help those in need and, in return, encourage others to do the same.
“That was our goal: to have something where neighbors help neighbors and our Cub Scout pack could help out other Middletown families,” said Russo.
The Cub Scouts held a ceremony to officially open the Little Free Pantry to the public. People are welcome to donate nonperishable food items and hygiene products. The Little Free Pantry is available during all hours of the day.
The article originally appeared in the November 3 – 9, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times. The article was updated November 10, 2022.
