This isn’t a local blog, but Maria and I both care about our little town. And we see the struggles that are already beginning to take their toll given all the business closings and layoffs.
A blog reader sent me a message about someone in the Midwest who converted his Little Free Library into a food station that offered free cans of soup and beans and healthy food.
He found people really needed the food. And his community was a lot wealthier than ours.
I loved that idea, so does Maria. So we took some books out of the library and put in a half dozen cans of good soup and beans. All the food is in their original cans that are tightly sealed.
I met a young woman today who is struggling to feed her three children, she is a single mother who got laid off of her job waiting tables in a restaurant this week. Suddenly, she can’t pay for groceries.
She is shy about going to a food pantry. Hunger is a tough bridge for some people to cross.
She told me she has stopped by our library once or twice to get some books for her kids, and when I told her there were definitely soup and beans going in the Free Library today, she said she would come by in the morning.
Nobody will know who comes or goes, or what they take.
In the coming weeks, I imagine from what I read some people will be struggling to buy groceries, and some people already are.
We have a great food pantry in town but I thought to expand our Little Free Library to Beans and Books, I see it as an experiment. It might make some sense int he coming weeks.
If not, we can always bring them in and have the soup for dinner. If it works, we’ll keep it stocked as much as we can. Books and beans go well together in the age of corona.
I know what the refugees and their children are going through in Albany, I take hunger seriously and know it is real, even in the richest country in the world. In rural America, lots of kids don’t get three meals every day.
In the refugee community, I have seen the stricken faces of parents who can’t buy enough food for their children.
More than 11 million children in America live in “food insecure” homes, which means there isn’t enough food for every family member to eat well and in a healthy way. The coming recession will make this worse.
We’ll see what happens. If you are local and hungry, feel free to take some food (and a book or two also). You don’t need to bring any food (or book) back in return.
The library is right in front of the farmhouse on Route 22.
I’m surprised that people are willing to use your Little Free Library right now. I have one too. It’s normally very popular, but nobody has touched it since we all started sheltering–too worried about possible contamination. I can’t blame them; I wouldn’t want to stop and take a book right now, either. When things settle down, I’ll be glad to have the library in use once again.
Joan, sorry to read this fearful piece. People have been using our free library right along, and there are no cases of coronavirus in our town. For a mother trying to feed her children who are hungry, reaching into a wooden cabinet for some dinner is neither a dangerous nor an irresponsible thing to do.
We are being asked to be thoughtful, stay away from crowds, wash our hands frequently and stay indoors as much as we can. As someone at risk, I am doing all of those things. We are not being asked to crawl into a hole and stop being human. I wouldn’t blame anyone for staying away, and I certainly would not blame people wanting to feed their hungry families for coming to get this food.
You should do whatever you wish to do, to me, that is a loss of perspective. Some degree of life must always go on, as long as it is thoughtful and considered. None of us are living in a sealed bubble, even now. Good luck to you, Joan…
P.S. Joan, I’m not sure why this isn’t safe than going to a supermarket with scores or even hundreds of people. No many where you buy a can of beans, someone has touched it. To me, it’s a lot safer.
Jon, Brilliant idea. Books & beans. You can’t get better than that and AMY’s to boot!
Thanks..
What a thoughtful and unselfish thing to do Jon. I started crying when I read your post and saw the picture, thanking God there are unselfish people like you and Maria still in this world. Or maybe it was just time for a good cry as you mentioned in another blog post. Thank you for all the things you are doing to help your fellow man. God takes note and He is pleased.