The People’s Pantries
Forward Indiana goes outside the box to bring food to people who need it
By Jacquee Eicher
For Fort Wayne Ink Spot
Consider this: nearly one-out-of-in six households in Allen County experience food insecurity. One-in-four children in Allen County experience food insecurity. Imagine filling up two War Memorial Coliseums every night with starving children.
Nonprofits continue to do a Herculaneum job in providing good, nutritious food to eat. There’s always a need for more.
That is where Sarah Thompson with Forward Indiana have pitched in with a Free Community Pantry.
The food pantries are a practice in solidarity, not charity, which means it is about the union and betterment of the community. These free community pantries, now 10 total, are a form of mutual aid and are designed specifically to be community sustaining, denoting the philosophy “take what you need, give what you can.”
It is simple, easy, and accessible to everyone without any lines, forms to fill out or hoops to jump through, she said. If you need a meal to get to your next paycheck, then go to the pantry. If you need dinner or snacks for your family, go to the pantry. If you have a little extra that you can give, then go to the pantry.
When asked about the inspiration behind the pantries, Thompson explained that she had been doing work for several local organizations to help provide food for families during the weekend, but then she had a thought, “what are these people doing Monday through Friday when we aren’t here?” Thompson went on to say that although there are many organizations focused on getting food to those in need that there are still people falling through the cracks.
“That is why we are a rogue, grassroots group because we didn’t want to answer to donors or a certain branch. We just wanted to get people food.” Thompson said.
Taber Olinger, the owner of Fancy & Staple on Broadway and one of the early hosts of the community pantries, said the pantry is about solidarity—recognizing that people need assistance and doing something to help.
“The amount of people donating and the amount of people taking advantage of this pantry is inspiring,” she said. “It kind of shakes you awake and confirms the great need we have in this community and the wonderful people we have who are ready to help.”
Aside from nonperishable and ready-to-eat food items, the community pantries are a place where you can drop off and pick-up school supplies, crafts, toiletries, feminine hygiene, and baby-care products.
The boxes are works of art, featuring talented local artists such as Afroplump—Lyndy Brazile
When asked what she hopes the future of the pantries looks like, Thompson said: “In the long term, we hope we don’t need the pantries and people could get everything they need to live a life of dignity, but that feels very far off. So, what I look forward to is that the pantries become normal and people start putting them out themselves and working with their neighbors to determine what the need is in their community...and that it just becomes a part of our lives.”
What Sarah Thompson and those behind this initiative want people to understand is that in the end, this is for everybody and that it is not charity.
“It’s just like a neighbor lending a cup of sugar.”
To find a pantry go to @ForwardIndiana on Facebook and Instagram.
