The Little Free Pantry movement was brought to Lynchburg by community members Megan Huffman and Kristen O’Neill earlier this year. The duo brought a group of volunteers together and built and installed the first pantry at the Lynchburg Daily Bread in June of 2017 (LCS)
LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) -- A $2,000 grant might bring Lynchburg one step closer to ending food poverty in the area.
One Little Free Pantry at a time.
Wednesday morning, the Hutcherson Early Learning Center held a ribbon cutting for a new pantry outside of the school in downtown Lynchburg.
It's already stocked with some canned goods.
The idea is to "take what you need, leave what you can" and anyone can use the pantry.
That's because it's located in what's called a "food desert."
There's no grocery store in downtown Lynchburg, and getting to the Kroger in Boonsboro or the Food Lion in Memorial can be a hike.
"A lot of people living downtown use public transportation, so to get off of work, and then have to make it to the grocery store and figure out dinner, it could take hours to make that happen," said Elise Spontarelli, the Vector Space Executive Director.
The $2,000 grant was provided by Home Depot.
The Little Free Pantry outside Hutcherson Early Learning Center is just the first of five to come to Hill City.
