Little free libraries are a growing phenomenon around the D.C. area, with people putting them in their front yard to foster sharing and community within their own neighborhood.
But right now, there also isn鈥檛 a lot of sharing that鈥檚 being encouraged due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, with needs to be met, people are coming up with ways 鈥� big and small 鈥� to do something for others.
Since Katina Rae Stapleton of Bowie, Maryland, is immunocompromised, she is limited by what she can do during this pandemic.
She’s still working and still getting paid, so a little brainstorming with friends led her to turn her Little Free Library into a .
It’s something other people are also doing with .
Stapleton said she won鈥檛 ask you any questions and she only has one rule.
Stapleton admits the concept of the pantry isn鈥檛 that different from how the free libraries function.
鈥淣eighbors sharing with neighbors,鈥� is how Stapleton described it.
鈥淚n this case, I鈥檝e converted just the purpose of the little library over to a pantry but the basic idea of being able to share with my community is the same,鈥� she said.
When the switch was made, Stapleton says she filled the box outside her home on Kinderbrook Lane about a third of the way full.
It didn鈥檛 take long for her neighbors to make sure it was jam-packed after she posted about it on the Nextdoor app.
鈥淥ne person even sanitized it completely after she filled it,鈥� Stapleton said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something important for people to know, is that you have to treat the pantry and even the little library just like you would a grocery store,” she said. “You have to make sure you wash your hands.鈥�
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While her pantry was filled up with various items, such as canned foods, the box is still less than the size of a normal kitchen cabinet.
That’s why Stapleton urged anyone who needs more assistance to visit local food pantries that can provide help on a larger scale.
鈥淭hey are definitely not going to replace full-fledged pantries,鈥� said Stapleton, whose box is open to anyone 鈥� but it’s meant to help carry a person over with one meal or so in a pinch.
Stapleton is also encouraging people to donate to pantries, , which are meant to reach people on a bigger scale.
鈥淚 think the larger point is, that if you really want to give back, there鈥檚 going to be lots of different ways to do it,鈥� Stapleton said.
鈥淚t might be donating, it might be giving blood, it be making a mask,” she said. “It鈥檚 just thinking about how you can contribute to your neighbors and I think that will help us out a lot during this situation.鈥�
