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Little Free Pantry makes its debut

Need is everywhere. To fill that need, and as part of its ministry, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church's pastor Janet Kettering said an important part of the church's history is feeding those in need.

Kettering said that there are many people in the Gunbarrel community who, while not part of an organized worship group, still want to help. In 2017, that energy was put to good use with a food drive. Pardes Levavot, the Jewish Renewal Congregation that also worships in the church building on Lookout Road, along with King Soopers, worked together to establish a community food drive.

"Honestly," Kettering said, "people gave an overabundance of food."

Besides making a donation to Community Food Share, Kettering said that there was space in the church to start a community food shelf with the extra food. "We often have people come here who are in need, who are food insecure or are in need for $20 for gas money, because they are on their way to a doctor's appointment or something like that."

The community food shelf worked well until COVID hit. "We really couldn't function from our food shelf very well," Kettering said. She did some research, and found, "In Boulder and Broomfield Counties there are over 41,000 people who are hungry, and that one in seven children struggles with hunger ... and that one in nine people are food insecure."

As need grew, Kettering looked for a way to move the food shelf to an area where people could just give or take what they needed. Having a little free pantry seemed to fill that need. Both the Gunbarrel Greens' Homeowners Association and the church's leadership council agreed the pantry was a good idea. Heatherwood resident and church member Wendall Borchert volunteered to build the pantry along with half a dozen other members, and the pantry was installed on Aug. 24.

"We wanted [the pantry] to be a safe place," Kettering said, "for people to ... know that if they are struggling with [food] insecurity, they could come here, and it would be fairly private for them. But also, to give the neighborhood an opportunity to come together and help others in a way that they might not know how to do otherwise."

The pantry works in the same manner as the Little Free Library works. If you are in need, take what you need. If you can give, please do so.

As for donations, Kettering said there is a wide range of items, which includes shelf-stable and non-perishable food items, such as canned or boxed goods, and bottled water and personal hygiene items including toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Ultimately, Kettering feels that the Little Free Pantry is a good way for community members to help one another. "It's our hope and our dream and our prayer."

The Little Free Pantry is located in Shepherd of the Hills' parking lot. While the church's address is 7077 Harvest Rd. Boulder, the parking lot and the pantry are accessible from Lookout Road.

 

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