Little Free Pantries

I first became familiar with Lincoln’s “Little Free Pantries” during the pandemic. 

Melanie Reinmiller, an acquaintance of mine, made a social media post that caught my attention about a Go Fund Me page supporting Lincoln’s Little Free Pantry movement. Having served as a Backpack Program volunteer for the Lincoln Food Bank for 11 years, I was aware of the food insecurity so many families in Lincoln experience and yet I had never considered its impact on my own neighborhood until the pandemic struck. 

After Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) transitioned to remote learning, I observed children and families walking past my home almost daily on their way to Belmont Elementary for meals to take home. I researched our neighborhood school and learned that before the pandemic started 82% of their enrolled students received free or reduced lunch with 70% of students qualifying for free lunch. When I learned the LPS meal distribution end date was nearing in July of 2020, I knew that families in my neighborhood needed another option for food and other essentials. 

Five days later we had a Little Free Pantry installed on our property at 1159 Knox Street. We filled our pantry that evening and by the next morning, our supplies were completely depleted. We restocked the pantry and within hours it was empty again. It quickly became apparent that our family’s grocery budget would have to more than double in order for us to continue to keep the pantry filled. We knew we would have to rely on the generosity of others in order to continue to keep our pantry fully stocked. News of our Little Free Pantry quickly spread due to social media and the “Little Free Pantries LNK NE” Facebook group. We received a $500 donation from the Pat Clinch Peace Project to buy groceries and would often find the pantry filled with bags of additional donations. 

Ten months after we had installed our pantry, I came across a post on the Nextdoor app:

“I recently went to the Knox Street Little Free Pantry but it was already pretty much empty...I can’t go too far since I have barely any gas left in my tank driving to the pantries. Anyone live near a Little Free Pantry that has a few necessities? I just can’t afford to waste any gas at this point.” 

I realized then how important Little Free Pantries are to some families who may not always be able to make it to larger food distribution sites.

In the years since the beginning of Little Free Pantries, our community has grown to nearly 50 pantries, each one serving an important need in Lincoln.