Girl Scouts build first free pantry in Arroyo Grande — and they need your help to fill it
.jpeg "Violet Foronjy, left, installs a little free pantry at a home on Printz Road with the help of mom Erika Foronjy, middle, and Sequoia Friedman, right. Violet Foronjy and Freidman, along with Sidda Todd (not pictured), are Girl Scouts with Troop 40930 who were working on their Silver Award community project.")
A pale yellow cabinet popped up at the end of a long grassy driveway in Arroyo Grande on Wednesday, stuffed with canned beans, fruits and other foods.
The box, known as a little free pantry, is located at 815 Printz Road. It’s the first of its kind in the Arroyo Grande area.
Marilyn Rossa, who owns the Printz Road property, said she had wanted to add a pantry on her property for a while. After reaching out online, she said, connected with a local Girl Scout troop that wanted to build it for their Silver Award project.
The Silver Award goes to junior high-age Girl Scouts who complete projects that address community issues they care about.
For Troop 40930, that was little free pantries.
“We decided we were going to do a free pantry before COVID started, but then it got complicated,” Girl Scout troop member Sidda Todd told The Tribune on Wednesday. “It was really hard to find somebody interested.”
But with the help of Facebook, parents from Troop 40930 connected with Rossa.
“It was something that I think was really necessary during these times, perhaps during all times,” Rossa said. “I was really happy to do it.”
The Little Free Pantry movement began in Fayetteville, Arkansas in May 2016, and quickly blossomed into a grass-roots network of community pantries offering free food to those in need.
The premise is simple. Community members put food — either extra items from their own pantries, or goods they buy specifically to donate — into publicly accessible cabinets; then anyone can stop by the little free pantry and pick up whatever they need.
There are hundreds of the little pantries across the United States, but only a handful in San Luis Obispo County. In South County, there’s only one other pantry, at 1501 24th St. in Oceano.
“It’s something that’s community based,” Rossa said of the mini pantry movement. “There’s no leader. It’s just great. You’re your own boss and you do what you want to do and accept food from people — what could be better?”
Rossa said she’s been in contact with numerous community members interested in donating food from drives and farmers who have extra produce they’d be willing to put in the pantry.
“I think I already filled it,” she said with a laugh, pointing to the three bags full of goods just waiting to be put into the pantry.
Maintaining the Arroyo Grande little free pantry does require some upkeep and donations from the community, Rossa and the troop members noted.
“Come visit!” Todd said.
“Yeah!” troop member Violet Foronjy added. “This only works if we get food in it.”
How to donate to Arroyo Grande’s little free pantry
To donate food to the little free pantry at 815 Printz Road in Arroyo Grande, drop off goods at the pantry, or coordinate a drop-off with Rossa via Facebook.
Almost all foods are welcome, though staples such as canned goods and baking supplies are the most popular.
For more information on how little free pantries work, visit the website at LittleFreePantry.org. You can find local information about pantries at www.linktree.com/HelpSLOLFPN.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 1:13 PM.
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