Isabel Gastaudo was at work at a local restaurant when a person came in asking for food.
In response to a suggestion to try a food pantry, the person told her there aren’t any in town. So Isobel decided to create one.
What Isobel created: a Little Free Pantry as a community service project through FCCLA, a service club at Clinton High School. The food pantries are similar to Little Free Libraries, which look like a small cabinet with shelves on a post, that people erect and stock with books, available for anyone who needs something to read. Little Free Libraries are usually located outside on the grounds or a church, community center or private property in a neighborhood.
Little Free Pantries started in 2016 in Arkansas as a grass-roots movement to address the problem of food insecurity. The cupboards are stocked with non-perishable goods, which are offered free to anyone who needs it — no questions, no red tape, no registration. The free pantries are a safety net for people who are hungry, or have hungry mouths to feed. They include people who have moved to a community recently, and people who lack the time to access other resources.
Of Americans struggling to put food on the table, it’s estimated that 29 percent don’t qualify for federal food assistance. In some parts of the country, the percentage is as high as 80 percent.
The mantra of the Little Free Pantry movement: Take What You Need. Give What You Can.
Starting a pantry is the perfect match for FCCLA, Isabel’s club at Clinton High School. FCCLA stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, and is a national organization for students enrolled in family and consumer sciences classes. That includes child development, culinary arts and any subject that benefits the wellness of students outside of an academic education. Isabel defines the subjects as ones that help students survive after they grow up and leave home— cooking, housekeeping and raising a family, or generally what’s known as “adulting.”
Isabel, a junior at Clinton High School, is head of community service and vice-president elect for FCCLA, which has 30 to 40 members. Students in FCCLA choose to do “star events” or big projects that promote the wellness of the community. She chose to create a Little Free Pantry as a way to make a difference.
The high school shop class built the pantry, and Isabel received donations to stock it. The biggest hurdle she had to overcome — finding a place in the community to put it.
It took perseverance and time, and was a learning experience on how public entities work, she said. She first asked at the health department, where she was told they already were working on a similar project. The Benson Center told her she could put her little pantry outside, where many Little Free Libraries are located for 24-hour accessibility, but Isobel was afraid it wouldn’t survive the elements.
She also approached churches and the library. Hawthorn Bank helped her collect donations for the project, but other than that, it was an exercise in frustration.
“It was hard to understand,” she said, of navigating the restrictions that nonprofits and public institutions operate under, complicating the hunt for a location. “It took a long time.”
Finally, Isobel stopped asking non-profits and decided to focus on private businesses, which she learned have more latitude to do what they want with their property. She found a home for her project at Fristoe’s Body Shop, 134 N. Main, and set the Little Free Pantry up on Monday, Jan. 20, stocking it with soup, canned food and other non-perishable food items. The pantry also has some clothing and shoes that were donated.
Fristoe’s Body Shop has two advantages, she said. It’s close to the Clinton Square, and it’s open long hours — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Friday to 3 p.m. The shop is owned by Tim Hager, who inherited it from his father, who bought it in 1990 and recently retired. Tim is married to Liane Hager, the Family and Consumer Services teacher at Clinton High School, and advisor to the FCCLA.
The Blessing Box, a parallel to free pantries in what is called the mini-pantry movement, started in Oklahoma about the same time. The sign on the boxes says “Have a Blessing - Leave it. Need a Blessing - Take it. Above all, Be Blessed.”
Isobel, who is interested in studying chemistry, said the project taught her how to collaborate with the community to address the problem of hunger and food insecurity. Items for the Little Free Pantry can be dropped off at Clinton High School, 1106 S. 2nd, or at Fristoe’s Body Shop, 134 N. Main.
For more information, go to littlefreepantry.org.
