(July 27, 2107) Merrie McElrath recognizes the importance of community members giving according to their abilities and taking according to their needs.
McElrath, a Sunday school teacher at Bethany United Methodist Church in Berlin, is joining a growing national trend by creating a freestanding food pantry in the parking lot at her place of worship.
The idea took root after the Sunday school teacher learned about the pioneering efforts of Jessica McClard, who in May 2016 created the Little Free Pantry at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“She put up a Facebook post about how she had done it and people were like, ‘this is great,’ and followed suit,” she said. “She had taken the concept from the Little Free Library and thought this would work if [she] wanted to do a food pantry on a small scale. What a great concept.”
Last Sunday Bethany United’s pastor, Rev. Connie Paulson, consecrated the church’s new Blessing Box, which was constructed by church trustee Joe Dell.
In contrast to the numerous food banks and soup kitchens operating throughout the Lower Shore, McElrath said the Blessing Box could be accessed at any hour.
“On a weekend evening let’s say a family were hungry and they didn’t have any money in their bank account,” she said. “There was no place to go for food or anyway to receive anything.”
Jennifer Small, managing director of the Maryland Food Band Eastern Shore branch, said based on data from fiscal year 2016 there are more than 6,600 individuals experiencing food insecurities in Worcester County, and of that number more than 2,000 were children. Small noted that although that figure has trended downward recently, other factors continue to present challenges.
“Even though the numbers of food insecure individuals has decreased, the cost of a meal has increased,” she said.
To bolster the efforts of groups like the Maryland Food Bank, McElrath said the Blessing Box would provide an outlet for community members to give and receive nonperishable foodstuffs in a self-service setting.
“[It’s] something to give them a meal for the evening where they wouldn’t go hungry,” she said. “The concept is different than a typical food pantry in that whenever you have a need you can just drive right up and put whatever you have extra in or take whatever.”
The Blessing Box will fill a need that other food-based outreach efforts undertaken by Bethany United Methodist may not accommodate, she said.
“You have to remember someone has to be there to distribute that food,” she said. “Somebody has to be there for intake and outtake.”
McElrath said the Blessing Box would only accept nonperishable and non-expired food in its original packing.
“We’ll also have a list within the pantry [stating] don’t drop this off because were not going to be able to distribute that,” she said. “You obviously can’t bake a pie and put the pie in the little free pantry. That’s not how it works.”
Although still in its infancy, McElrath said in time the Blessing Box would contain canned vegetables, fruits, proteins, personal care items, school supplies and paper goods, while noting that the freestanding food pantry would not accept razors, sharp objects, harsh chemicals or items stored in glass containers.
In light of the growing popularity of self-service food pantries nationwide, McElrath hopes to popularize the trend in Worcester County.
“My endgame in this for me is not just one little food pantry at my church,” she said. “I want to put them all through my county.”
Future projects are beginning to materialize, she said.
“We’ve already approached somebody else that is very interested in doing it on her property,” she said. “My goal is to have a bunch of the little food pantries and have other people who are going to be maintaining them.”
As people learn about the concept, McElrath thinks the give-and-take concept will become appealing.
“It could be that you go to drop off something and you see something in the pantry you were going to go shopping for and say, ‘I really need that,’” she said. “It’s just like your neighbor borrowing a cup of sugar.”
Anyone who would like more information on the Blessing Box can email redspeck@prodigy.net or call 443-783-0547.
McElrath, a Sunday school teacher at Bethany United Methodist Church in Berlin, is joining a growing national trend by creating a freestanding food pantry in the parking lot at her place of worship.
The idea took root after the Sunday school teacher learned about the pioneering efforts of Jessica McClard, who in May 2016 created the Little Free Pantry at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“She put up a Facebook post about how she had done it and people were like, ‘this is great,’ and followed suit,” she said. “She had taken the concept from the Little Free Library and thought this would work if [she] wanted to do a food pantry on a small scale. What a great concept.”
Last Sunday Bethany United’s pastor, Rev. Connie Paulson, consecrated the church’s new Blessing Box, which was constructed by church trustee Joe Dell.
In contrast to the numerous food banks and soup kitchens operating throughout the Lower Shore, McElrath said the Blessing Box could be accessed at any hour.
“On a weekend evening let’s say a family were hungry and they didn’t have any money in their bank account,” she said. “There was no place to go for food or anyway to receive anything.”
Jennifer Small, managing director of the Maryland Food Band Eastern Shore branch, said based on data from fiscal year 2016 there are more than 6,600 individuals experiencing food insecurities in Worcester County, and of that number more than 2,000 were children. Small noted that although that figure has trended downward recently, other factors continue to present challenges.
“Even though the numbers of food insecure individuals has decreased, the cost of a meal has increased,” she said.
To bolster the efforts of groups like the Maryland Food Bank, McElrath said the Blessing Box would provide an outlet for community members to give and receive nonperishable foodstuffs in a self-service setting.
“[It’s] something to give them a meal for the evening where they wouldn’t go hungry,” she said. “The concept is different than a typical food pantry in that whenever you have a need you can just drive right up and put whatever you have extra in or take whatever.”
The Blessing Box will fill a need that other food-based outreach efforts undertaken by Bethany United Methodist may not accommodate, she said.
“You have to remember someone has to be there to distribute that food,” she said. “Somebody has to be there for intake and outtake.”
McElrath said the Blessing Box would only accept nonperishable and non-expired food in its original packing.
“We’ll also have a list within the pantry [stating] don’t drop this off because were not going to be able to distribute that,” she said. “You obviously can’t bake a pie and put the pie in the little free pantry. That’s not how it works.”
Although still in its infancy, McElrath said in time the Blessing Box would contain canned vegetables, fruits, proteins, personal care items, school supplies and paper goods, while noting that the freestanding food pantry would not accept razors, sharp objects, harsh chemicals or items stored in glass containers.
In light of the growing popularity of self-service food pantries nationwide, McElrath hopes to popularize the trend in Worcester County.
“My endgame in this for me is not just one little food pantry at my church,” she said. “I want to put them all through my county.”
Future projects are beginning to materialize, she said.
“We’ve already approached somebody else that is very interested in doing it on her property,” she said. “My goal is to have a bunch of the little food pantries and have other people who are going to be maintaining them.”
As people learn about the concept, McElrath thinks the give-and-take concept will become appealing.
“It could be that you go to drop off something and you see something in the pantry you were going to go shopping for and say, ‘I really need that,’” she said. “It’s just like your neighbor borrowing a cup of sugar.”
Anyone who would like more information on the Blessing Box can email redspeck@prodigy.net or call 443-783-0547.