The Little Pantry Is a Big Ministry

by Hugo Bravo

Outside of The Salvation Army in Waltham, Massachusetts, stands a miniaturized version of the Waltham Corps building, complete with a cupola on the roof and a hanging red shield. Inside its doors are food products like bagged pasta, Hamburger Helper, and other nonperishables, available for anyone to take.

The Waltham Corps’ Little Free Pantry was designed by 16-year-old Noelle Lee after she participated in a teen volunteer project for Rosie’s Place, a local nonprofit that focuses on women experiencing homelessness and poverty in Boston. The experience inspired her to do more.

“Noelle approached other pantry sites and churches about this project before us,” says Captain Justin Barter, corps officer at Waltham. “Understandably, they were wary of it. There are certain criteria that come with running an outdoor food pantry.”

The first Little Free Pantry started in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2016 to help fight local food insecurity. The idea was inspired by Little Free Library boxes, where neighbors can share and exchange books within their communities. But unlike an outdoor library, an outdoor pantry requires frequent monitoring of what products go into it. Food in glass jars or containers can crack in cold winter temperatures. In the warm summer months, anything with dairy quickly spoils.

Noelle and the corps officers at Waltham, Captains Justin and Marsha Barter, discussed what a Salvation Army outdoor pantry might look like and what it would need to operate successfully. Noelle and her father, Jason Lee, built the pantry with glass doors for easy viewing and solar panels to light the inside at night. On the side of the pantry, there’s a quote from Founder William Booth’s “I’ll Fight” speech: “While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight.”

They cemented the pantry into a metal tub to keep it from tipping over.

“It weighs almost 100 pounds,” says Captain Marsha. “It’s bigger than people think and holds a good amount of food.”

Since its debut last November, the Little Free Pantry has been stocked by the community and volunteers from the Waltham Corps.

“Every morning, someone from the corps goes to peek inside and see what it needs for the day, and what has been donated,” says Captain Marsha. “Our volunteers say that maintaining our Little Free Pantry is their favorite part of the day. On Sundays, our soldiers come with food to fill it up after church.”

Waltham has happily embraced the idea of “little spaces” that can have a big impact. The captains say that they encounter three little libraries on the way to take their children to school. There’s even a local “little fridge” for sharing cold food products. And now, a Little Free Pantry with a Salvation Army touch stands out in Waltham.

“One day when I went to fill it up, I saw people using it. I didn’t want to bother them, so I decided to return later. This happened seven more times before I was able to fill it up again,” says Captain Marsha. “I thought to myself, ‘This is amazing! People know that this pantry is here, and it’s for them.’”

Visit The Salvation Army Waltham Corps website.