Medina's Local Little Free Food Pantries Seeing Higher Demand as Need Grows

According to a diagram created by the local nonprofit SPARK Medina, there are 22 Little Free Food Pantries throughout the county, eight of them in the City of Medina, including the most recent one at Eliza Northrop Elementary School. These pantries are indeed both little and full of free food.

This story looks at two pantries — one started by an individual, retired teacher Jan Simmons, and one by the employees of one of Medina’s oldest companies, Root Candles. The creators of both pantries have followed SPARK’s mission to “empower change makers who use their agency to take action locally while creating impact for the common good.”

Jan Simmons’ Prospect Pantry

It all began as a birthday gift. Six years ago, Jan Simmons had been cruising through Facebook and saw that someone had transformed a Little Library (those little boxes with glass doors on poles filled with books) into a food pantry.

“This is what I want for my birthday,” she told her husband Chet, a Medina City Councilman.

He built one for her. Thus, the very first Little Free Food Pantry in the county came into being. And Jan hasn’t had a free moment since then. Her goal, she says, is to “provide food security for those who need it.”

“I sometimes have to refill the pantry three or four times a day,” she adds. “And depending on how much protein is provided, it might amount to $125 dollars of food. By protein I mean canned tuna, chicken and beef.”

Her pantry often includes items most requested at Little Free Food Pantries countywide: canned and foil-wrapped meats such as tuna, chicken, sardines and SPAM; peanut butter; hearty soups like Progresso or Campbell’s Chunky; non-refrigerated milk and yogurts; cereal; breakfast bars; snack crackers; canned vegetables and fruits; dried rice, lentils and beans; canned beans; spaghetti sauce; canned stew; boxed macaroni and cheese; and canned Chef Boyardee products with meat. Baking items such as cake mixes, canned frosting and bags of flour or sugar also move quickly, as do coffee and tea. Simmons is also grateful for toilet paper, laundry soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shower soap and feminine hygiene products.

Over the years Jan has built up a network of helpers, including a crew of four to five families who deliver food to her door on a regular basis.

“In this economy many people live from paycheck to paycheck,” she observes. “One big expense — medical or something else — can really set you back. Suddenly you are faced with food challenges.”

Cars regularly line up before the pantry and, she says, sometimes she cannot predict who is dropping off food and who is picking up. “You cannot predict the food challenges of anyone.”

Jan runs the pantry with military precision. “Responsibility and sustainability are very important if people depend on you,” she says. She constantly checks to see that the food offerings are safe and keeps a lookout for expired products. Anything that sits for three or four days is removed.

She reminds donors that certain items tend not to go well in pantries, including pancake mix, boxed dressing, syrup, off-brand jellies and Hamburger Helper. She also asks that people avoid assembling “meal bags” containing a recipe and multiple ingredients, because people often open the bags and take only what they need.

In the summer months Jan, who is a Master Gardener herself, operates what she calls Prospect Produce — friendly gardeners with “an over-abundance of produce” will share that produce. (She hates the word “donate.”)

There is also the Prospect Closet. Standing beside the pantry is a clothing rack on wheels featuring coats, jackets and similar items, and at the foot of the rack are bins filled with hats, mittens, socks and other necessities.

Jan’s address is 421 West Washington Street, and the Prospect Pantry is located around the corner, at the foot of the Simmons’ driveway on Prospect Street.

Root’s Little Free Pantry

It began in February 2021 at an Employee Engagement Council meeting, recalls Cyndi Hosey, purchasing manager at Root Candles. A few members suggested the creation of a Little Free Pantry, and the idea was greeted with great enthusiasm.

“We decided that it was one of the ways we could give back,” Cyndi said.

The Employee Engagement Council sponsors monthly events and rallies, including holiday parties for the Root Candle employees. And the employees — more than one hundred of them — always bring gifts of food and personal hygiene products to these events. These include many of the same high-need items often seen at other pantries, such as canned meats, hearty soups, cereal, canned vegetables and fruits, pasta, rice, laundry soap and personal care essentials.

Although this is the largest and most consistent source of food for the pantry, it also receives donations from local churches and from the Salvation Army when there is a surplus of products.

“Also, individuals frequently drop things off,” says Cyndi. “We’re on a busy, well-traveled street. There is a lot of foot and bike traffic. People drop off and they pick up.”

The three-shelf pantry was built by an employee. It is located near the Root Candles store, on the lawn of the Victorian home of A.I. Root, founder of the company, and is painted red to match the color of the historic home. The address is 662 West Liberty Street.

A Root Candles employee, Pat O’Boyle Sr., supervises the contents of the pantry, regularly refilling the shelves and culling expired or undesirable products.