Sixth-graders’ Little Free Pantry officially filled with food
Published 5:30 am Thursday, March 22, 2018
- Photo contributed by Jessica Berry Jessica Berry, a social studies teacher at the Lloyd McGuffey Sixth Grade Center, left, stands alongside Bae-Bae Smith and Elijah Johnson as they finish putting the final touches on the Little Free Pantry and fill it with food.
STANFORD — What began as an idea in a classroom now stands near the Lincoln County Public Library as one group of sixth-graders put up the city’s first Little Free Pantry earlier this month.
Jessica Berry, a social studies teacher at the Lloyd McGuffey Sixth Grade Center, accompanied a group of students in December as they presented their proposal to construct a Little Free Pantry in the city to the Stanford City Council.
Students who presented the proposal were Kayci Witt, Kayden Young, Bae-Bae Smith, Elijah Johnson, Jae Cox and Logan Hilton.
After receiving unanimous support from the council, students moved forward with the project, which they said they hope will put a dent in local hunger.
Like Little Free Libraries — which are small boxes filled with books and scattered across the county — the Little Free Pantry takes a similar approach, but with food.
Elijah Johnson and his dad, Scott, built the new pantry and on March 7, it was officially up and running, according to Berry.
![](https://www.theinteriorjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2018/03/Pantry-1-copy-235x300.jpg)
Photos contributed by Jessica Berry
Elijah Johnson puts the first food items inside the students’ Little Free Pantry.
The students will oversee the pantry, refilling it with non-perishable food items when necessary, Berry said. Donations will be received through the schools to help keep the pantry full.
“(I’m) really hoping this has a positive impact on our community,” Berry said in an email. “I am so proud of my students.”
![](https://www.theinteriorjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2018/03/Pantry-4-copy-300x287.jpg)
Photos contributed by Jessica Berry
Elijah Johnson puts the finishing touches on a group of sixth-graders’ new Little Food Pantry, located near the Lincoln County Public Library.