The small, brightly painted boxes around town, some made to resemble miniature houses, weren’t just created to be cute. They are found perched randomly in parking lots and grassy knolls and actually house tiny food pantries that offer free goods to those in need.
No one is sure exactly who started the first Little Food Pantry in Vicksburg, but like a spark, that first box ignited a flame that inspired the second, and so on, until there are now about seven scattered throughout the community. Each Little Food Pantry is independently maintained by the church or group that constructed it.
“It’s a way to help people in the community who just need a little something extra,” said Lee Ann Whitley, Coordinator of Missions and Senior Adult and Youth Ministries, at Crawford Street UMC (CSUMC). The church sponsors a Little Food Pantry, located on South Street.
The Little Food Pantry’s objective is different from that of a regular food pantry. Portions of food provided are much smaller; there is no need to register, and most items require little preparation.
New Beginnings Ministries member Jessica Lloyd, who initiated the drive to place a Little Pantry at her church, added, “Sometimes people have needs when a regular food pantry isn’t open. The Little Food Pantry is always available when someone needs it.”
Apostle Michelle King of New Beginnings Ministries echoed Lloyd’s sentiment and said she has been encouraged by the popularity of what she calls “God’s Storehouse Blessings Box.”
Lloyd said she and others at New Beginnings Ministries frequently check the boxes to make sure they are stocked, even though donations have declined. She has even had several occasions when neighborhood residents pitched in to help stock the Little Food Pantry.
“We try to have ours (stock) snack items that don’t require a kitchen to prepare,” Whitley said. “I think most of the pantries in town are unique to the needs of the neighborhoods they are in.”
There is always a need for items to fill Little Food Pantries. Some of the more popular items are:
Vienna sausageProtein barsTuna or chicken pouchesFruit cupsSmall bottled waterPeanut butter/Cheese crackersNuts and dried fruitChips
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