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Our block's little free pantry hit 500 items this month and I didn't think it would last past spring
Three houses on my street put up a shelf pantry by the bus stop back in April, mostly canned beans and pasta, and this month we counted 500 items taken and restocked by neighbors. I figured it would be empty by July, but people keep dropping off stuff on their way to work, even the guy who never waves back. How do you all keep a shared neighborhood thing going once the first rush of excitement wears off?
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susanm568d ago
I used to roll my eyes at stuff like this, honestly. Figured a bus stop pantry would be stripped clean in a week and then sit there like a sad empty box with a wet cardboard sign. But a neighbor of mine on Oak Street did the same thing two summers ago and it's still going, and what kept it alive wasn't excitement, it was routine. People started treating it like taking out the trash, just a thing you do on the way somewhere, grab a can, drop a can. The trick seems to be keeping it small and boring so nobody feels like they have to run a whole project. Once it becomes a chore with meetings and a spreadsheet, that's when it dies.
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