Little boxes for a big need: Little food pantries adapt to growing food insecurity

The small wooden boxes sprinkled around Fort Smith go by many names: little free pantries, red boxes, blessing boxes, giving boxes. No matter what they are labeled, they all serve the same purpose – providing people facing hunger with an accessible, anonymous way to receive food.  

The boxes function on a simple premise – take what you need, leave what you can. 

St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, located at 2701 Old Greenwood Road, first placed a giving box on its campus in 2017 after seeing a need in the neighborhood. 

“In the beginning, it was about things that people could not buy with food stamps,” said Michael Briggs, rector at St. Bartholomew’s. “It initially started with paper towels, shaving cream, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste … But what we quickly found, although we thought we were in a more affluent area, is … that wasn’t really what was needed. Hence, the shift … to actually putting food out there.”  

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From little wooden box to full-service pantry 

Food insecurity is a widespread issue across Fort Smith. A 2019 study conducted by the Urban Institute found that one in four children was food insecure in Sebastian County. According to the Fort Smith School District, about 73% of students receive free or reduced lunch.  

St. Bartholomew's began placing non-perishable food items in the pantry, but the box would often empty out quickly with one person “clear[ing] the whole thing out as opposed to taking what you need and leaving the rest,” Briggs said. 

In order to provide for more people and increase the types of food offered, St. Bartholomew’s opened a food pantry inside the church in 2020. The pantry serves anyone in need and has a special section for veterans.  

"When I started it was a few bags of groceries … and then we finally got to the system I use now, which is … family bags packed with basic stuff in them,” said Maranda Leeper, director of the food pantry. “... We actually had to expand and buy more shelves. We have three freezers, and we work with the food bank.”  

The giving box now works in tandem with the church’s food pantry, helping the organization to reduce food waste. 

“When we see something that looks like it’s getting to a date where we don’t feel like it is good to serve, we immediately put that in the giving box because we know it’ll go away very quickly,” Briggs said.  

The little food pantry movement 

Barbie Johnson, a Fort Smith resident, had an idea to place the first little free pantry in the city in 2016.  

Johnson wanted to bring joy and hope to her community during a difficult time in her life when she was missing her children who had grown and were traveling or moving away. She was inspired by Jessica McClard, who created the first little free pantry in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

By picking the location of Creekmore Park, Johnson said she “thought it might be a great area because people who have food insecurity could really benefit from a food pantry” in a centralized location, especially for families with children. 

The Creekmore Park Community Pantry marked its fifth anniversary in September.  

"It’s a great help for those who find themselves in a hard spot, and then down the road, they end up ... giving back, and that’s just remarkable,” Johnson said. “It’s really the way it should be.” 

Since 2016, there have been at least 18 little free pantries in operation in Fort Smith. Each is independently run and relies on donations from community members, nonprofits and religious organizations.  

Some little pantries have disappeared or closed operations due to COVID-19. Currently, there are at least 10 active pantries across the city.  

Linda Reed, the church secretary at St. Luke Lutheran Church, regularly stocks the food pantry at 5401 Free Ferry Road. “We have some people who come and ring the doorbell. Before COVID, they would come and hug me, and all their kids would hug me,” Reed said. “They were just so grateful and appreciative.”  

She visits the pantry multiple times throughout the day, to ensure that multiple families can receive donations.

“I really just consider it my personal ministry to take care of people.”  

New designs and expanded offerings  

With an open pantry exposed to the elements comes many issues including weather, vandalism, and limitations on the types of food items.  

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, located at 2100 Cavanaugh Road, has encountered issues with people placing perishable items into their little food pantry including produce and packages of raw chicken. Pastor Richard Davenport said the church had to place a sign on the box with a reminder to only donate nonperishable items.  

“I absolutely understand the sentiment, and people wanting to help other people, but it’s not a good way to do it,” Davenport said. 

Instead, he encourages donations of canned goods, cereal and other foods that will be safe to consume after sitting in the box. 

During colder temperatures, St. Bartholomew’s found a way to work with the weather to include more perishable items.  

“One thing we were able to really use the giving box for was during the snow … last year, people weren’t able to get out, but we were able to fix bags and leave them in the box … Because it was so cold, we were even able to leave some of the frozen stuff out there,” Leeper said.  

Zeke Allen, the pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, located at 2200 Phoenix Ave., and Cavanaugh United Methodist Church, located at 7205 Highway 271 South, updated both churches’ little food pantries by building new boxes with ventilation.  

“There’s now airflow that goes through those … it’s to reduce the temperature in the summer. I think it can get so hot, it’s not even safe to put canned goods in there,” Allen said.  

With the new vents, the churches can continue their partnership with the Fort Smith Farmers Market. Vendors from the market donate leftover produce to the church, which after sorting, get placed in the pantries. 

“We bag it in paper sacks, and on a regular basis, there will be people waiting for us to put it in. It moves very quickly,” Allen said.  

In the areas around Wesley United Methodist Church and Cavanaugh United Methodist Church, many people rely on the pantries due to limited transportation. 

“We see a lot of people at both food boxes that will walk to it or ride their bicycle to it,” Allen said. “... It’s amazing how much stuff moves through those boxes every day.” 

Building relationships to care for neighbors 

While anonymity is one of the little free pantries’ assets, it also is a hurdle for those the pantries intend to serve.   

Few givers and receivers will see each other at the boxes, helping to lessen the shame and stigma of food insecurity. However, the disconnection makes it difficult to establish relationships with those who need more support. 

Accepting help requires courage and vulnerability, and by forging a relationship, “they’re more able to help you in other ways if you’re known to them,” Briggs said. “It doesn’t mean that we want to be in all of your business, but we know who you are, and we know when we see you.”  

For individuals who make the transition from the giving box to the food pantry, St. Bartholomew’s offers connections to additional aid, “whether it’s referring them to another service or sometimes they just need somebody to listen,” Leeper said.  

On their own, little free pantries will not solve food insecurity. For local leaders, the little boxes are a starting place in the fight against hunger.  

"It doesn’t really provide a long-term solution for folks, but it definitely helps in the interim if somebody finds themselves in a difficult spot needing food,” Johnson said.  

For those who have concerns about the openness and availability of the food in the pantries being taken advantage of, Leeper offers a response.  

“That’s not my job to know whether or not they are gaming the system,” she said. “My job is to give them food and to feed them. That is what God commanded us to do, to take care of our neighbors, to love our neighbors.”  

Catherine Nolte is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. She can be reached at cnolte@swtimes.com. Southwest Times Record and Report for America are working to place a new generation of journalists in community news organizations across the country. Will you support this effort today?