Will we see an explosion of Little Free Pantries in Charlotte?

I’m waiting for the Little Free Pantry concept to explode in Charlotte the way Little Free Libraries have. (Remember how a new author launched her book using these?)

Little Free Pantries started popping up in Arkansas in 2016.

I’ve driven by just one version of the Little Free Pantry in Charlotte, in the form of a house-like box labeled “Community Pantry” on Harding Place off of East Morehead Street. It’s right by the Mecklenburg County Market on the Carolinas Medical Center Myers Park campus. A message on the little door reads: “Please help yourself.”

I confirmed that this is a Carolinas HealthCare System project, but wasn’t able to get any more information.

But here’s what I like about LFPs, or concepts like it: The goal of the LFP is not to end all hunger in the U.S. Rather, an LFP can function in two ways.

– It can address need in high-poverty areas, supplying items like non-perishable foods, hygiene items and dining supplies.

– In higher-income neighborhoods, LFPs can hold school snacks, a cup of sugar for the baker down the street or maybe even a power bar for the passing jogger.

The national LFP website flat out says: “The LFP is small, so it cannot stock the quantity and variety other food pantries can. For this reason, it should not be relied on for meeting pervasive need.”

Luckily, in Charlotte, we have organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina that strategically work to end hunger. Specifically, their No. 1 goal is ending child hunger, with programs such as Kids Cafe (to provide free meals, snacks and nutrition education to at-risk children), the Backpack Program (which provides a backpack of food for weekends and holidays when school meals aren’t available) and the School-Based Mobile Pantry (which offers a food-shopping experience for kids and their families).

Second Harvest chief executive officer Kay Carter hasn’t heard anything about LFPs popping up in our city. But she did say this: “I think any strategy where you’re helping to feed someone is a good strategy.”

So LFPs are free to be a quick and easy way to give to people in desperate need, as well as to give to passersby who just happen to need something small. It all depends on the location of the LFP.

When I passed it, the Community Pantry on Romany Road was stocked with a pair of shoes, mini cereal boxes, packaged crackers, a bag of snack mix and a cheerful, marker-scrawled note. I had just emerged from the adjacent Mecklenburg County Market, so I tossed an apple inside.

I wouldn’t think it saved anyone’s life, since the pantry is in Myers Park. But someone wandering the hospital campus could be having the crappiest day of their life and need a pick-me-up. You never know.

With something like the LFP, there’s no pressure to save the world with what you can offer. It’s just one more way to be a good neighbor and maybe even save someone’s day. Or, at the very least, make them feel taken care of for a moment.

Learn how to start your own Little Free Pantry here.

Photos: Katie Toussaint

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 11:48 PM with the headline "Will we see an explosion of Little Free Pantries in Charlotte?."