Clarksburg Church Is the Host Site for New Clarksburg Little Free Pantry
Local church partners with community members to meet food insecurity needs 24/7.
CLARKSBURG, Md., April 04, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Clarksburg Little Free Pantry is part of the the Little Free Pantry (http://www.littlefreepantry.org/) mini-pantry movement and applies the Little Free Library® concept to activate community engagement to respond to food insecurity. The Clarksburg Little Free Pantry is now open for public use.
According to the Maryland Food Bank (https://mdfoodbank.org/hunger-in-maryland/), 1 in 9 or 665,420 Marylanders, face food insecurity. The Little Free Pantry is a place around which neighbors can meet each other's simple needs by taking what they need, leaving what they don't, and donating when they can. While the Little Free Pantry is smaller than larger food banks, their anonymity and accessibility makes them perfect for providing supplemental respite from food insecurity.
The Establishment of the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry
When the Damascus Little Free Pantry was vandalized in January 2019, the community responded with financial donations that were beyond the amount needed to restore one pantry. Due to the community support, demand, and regular use of the Damascus Little Free Pantry, organizer Mary Ann Glassic Varley, chose to use the donations to extend the reach of the Little Free Pantry and wishes to establish five new Little Free Pantries across the Northern Montgomery County area. While the vandalization was a temporary loss, the financial generosity of the community will allow more families to be served.
The Clarksburg Little Free Pantry is the first of five pantries in the Northern Montgomery County area.
Community Members
Several individuals, including a local Clarksburg family, and local businesses enabled the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry to be established. The Kreider family, parents Mark and Stephanie along with their daughters, Savannah and Audrey, imagined Clarksburg to be a place where broken things were made right. When the opportunity came to facilitate a little pantry in the Clarksburg area, they knew it was something that truly could make a difference in someone's life and jumped at the chance. The Kreider family is the organizer of the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry.
Stanely Barsch of Barsch Realty and Elgin Smith of Smith Construction provided building materials and talent to build and install the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry. Additionally, Clarksburg Church as the new host site for the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry.
According to Clarksburg Church Lead Pastor, Beth Wolff, "Clarksburg Church exists to love others and we believe that one way we can do that is to make the places that we live, work, and play more like heaven than Earth. This seemed like such a tangible and sustainable way to love our neighbors and see our community become more like heaven. We are so thankful that the Kreiders chose us to be hosts for the Little Free Pantry."
The grand opening of the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry was on Sunday, March 24. After a trial period of one week, the Clarksburg Little Free Pantry is open and ready for use and donations.
About Clarksburg Church
Originally named Lakewood Church of God, Clarksburg Church was founded in 2014 and is led by Lead Pastor, Beth Wolff. Clarksburg Church is a campus of Fairfax Community Church, under the Church of God Anderson denomination, located in Fairfax, VA. Their mission to gather the people by creating relevant environments where people are equipped and empowered to love God and love others is changing the City of Clarksburg, surrounding cities and people across the world. For more information, visit http://www.clarksburgchurch.com or follow them on Facebook or Instagram @clarksburgchurch.
###CONTACT: Kasey Murphy, [email protected]
SOURCE Clarksburg Church
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