PC ROTARY LITTLE FREE PANTRY CELEBRATES 5 YEARS. For various reasons we all remember the year 2020. Let’s face it, it was a year hard to forget. It was a year of learning about Zoom, working from home, not working, online school and masks. It was also a year for too many sad endings but yet many new beginnings.
For Putnam County Rotary it was the year a Rotary District grant was written to open the “Little Free Pantry in a Pinch” in the foyer of the Putnam County Community Center at 128 First Street in Standard. The facility is also at the center of community events, offers senior citizen programming and meals on wheels, and serves as a branch of the Putnam County Library.
The Little Free Pantry project is intended to provide 24-7 access to a day’s emergency food for those in need “in a pinch,” or between monthly visits to the Putnam County Food Pantry which provides food and supplies monthly to any Putnam County resident. This project showed us the strength, resilience, and generosity of the people in our small but mighty communities. The Little Free Pantry grant was written with simply the hope of making food available and accessible any time of day or night. It opened in January 2020, never imagining what would happen just 2 months later.
At the 5 year anniversary of the Little Free Pantry’s opening, we hope to share that a “small but mighty Club” can find a unique way to show and do, “Service Above Self” . We acknowledge everyone who donated money, helped in so many ways, used and didn’t abuse the pantry, and at times when the shelves were almost empty, dropped off food to help us continue to feed the families who needed just a little help. What we have seen the past 5 years is an outpouring of support for our little Rotary Club and the generosity and love for our fellow county citizens.
This project began with a District Grant request written 5 years ago -- made possible because of funds that are available through Rotary District 6420 due to our own District members’ support of the Rotary Foundation. We are so thankful for these grants! And of all the projects PC Rotary has done through grant funds awarded, this one joins the list of ongoing projects that are sustainable because of the generosity and giving hearts of the people who live in the communities we serve. So as we celebrate the 5 year anniversary of the “Little Free Pantry in a Pinch” Putnam County Rotary wants to say THANK YOU to our Rotary District for the support and the funds made available to help Clubs, and to show one of the amazing projects made possible because of Rotarians’ support of the Foundation, and our District’s support of Club projects such as this.