Big Sky Little Pantry Open to Everyone
 | Author:
Brenda Phillips
Brenda Phillips: MT43 News Office Administrator |
Big Sky Little Pantry Open to Everyone
Brenda Phillips
Big Sky, Little Pantry Broadwater County, was started in April as a project that came out of a nine-month Big Sky, Big Leadership course offered through the Broadwater County Extension Office. Class members Kasee Clark, Brittany DesChene, and Katie Erb were tasked to develop an impactful community service project. Their goal was to establish a 24/7 resource for food assistance, while allowing users anonymity. The Little Pantry is free for all community members to take what they need and leave what they can.
The organizers are grateful for the community support for this project. The pantry cabinet was donated by Birdi Kribs with The Bird’s Nest. Townsend Hardware donated paint and Ace Farm and Ranch donated insulator board to weatherize the cabinet for use as a pantry. The Broadwater Rural Fire District has provided a central location in the alley behind the fire station at 130 S. Cedar.
The Little Pantry is available 24/7 for anyone in the community who may need non-perishable food items. Anyone needing a little extra help with groceries can take the opportunity to check out what the pantry has to offer. Organizers especially want kids to know that they can come to this resource for handy kid-friendly meals and snacks. The organizers monitor the site daily for appropriate items and cleanliness. Due to the confidential nature of the pantry, organizers are unsure how many community members have been positively impacted; however, resources have continuously rotated in and out since its implementation. The pantry has remained sufficiently stocked since April with community donations.
Donors can place items inside the pantry cabinet, neatly, at any time of day. A list of suggested foods is available at the Little Pantry or on the Facebook page.
As the weather gets colder, items may have to be limited to non-perishable (non-freezable) dry goods such as pasta, rice, crackers, granola bars, ramen noodles, mac and cheese, hygiene items, toilet tissue, etc. It is not meant to be a total shopping resource, but to help with the in-between times.
The Big Sky, Little Pantry is a self-sustaining community effort, separate from the Broadwater Food Pantry. The Broadwater Food Pantry members commend the effort to provide support for our neighbors in these challenging times.
For more information, follow Big Sky, Little Pantry Broadwater County on Facebook.
Article Images
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PhotoCredit: Big Sky, Little Pantry Members
Image 1 Caption: Big Sky, Little Pantry members Brittany DesChene, Kasee Clark, and Katie Erb
Photo Provided by Big Sky, Little Pantry Members
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Image 2 Caption: All community members can "take what they need and leave what they can"
Photo Provided by Big Sky, Little Pantry Members
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Image 3 Caption: Big Sky, Little Pantry in the alley behind the Fire Department at 13 S Cedar St, Townsend
Photo Provided by Big Sky, Little Pantry Members
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Image 4 Caption: Logo
