Aston teen builds food pantry to help neighbors
ASTON » When Northley Middle School student Luke DiLorenzo, 13, volunteered at a local food bank earlier this year, he was surprised to see how many local families needed help to put food on their tables. Although the young Aston resident was worldly enough to realize that food pantries have been around for a long time, he never gave much thought to how many people in his own suburban neighborhood were recently experiencing difficult times financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The seventhgrader was immediately inspired to do more.
“The experience gave me a great idea,” Luke explained. “I think we should all try and give back to people because, sometimes, we all need a little help. That is what community means to me — helping each other when you can.”
Luke’s idea was to make a “Free Little Pantry,” where people in his neighborhood could donate nonperishable food and hygiene items and other local people in need can come and get them, free of charge. After some research on the idea, Luke decided that he needed to acquire a container that resembled a big mailbox, where donors could place their items, no matter what the weather conditions are. After he conceived the idea, he approached his parents, Anthony and Candice DiLorenzo, to seek guidance.
“As soon as I explained
my vision to them, they loved it!,” exclaimed Luke. “They told me to research and make a plan about how I could complete the project. Not long after I began my research, I ran into a big problem —boxes like this were very expensive to purchase pre-made, with prices ranging from $280-$1,000.”
The young man thought outside the box for his box. He approached his neighbor Ron Buck, a retired welder who enjoys woodworking as a hobby and asked for his help in constructing a donation box.
“Luke was very enthusiastic about learning the different aspects of wood working,” Buck explained after helping his young neighbor turn his vision into a reality. “He was excited to work with the different tools and was willing
to do anything that I asked of him. He gave his full attention the entire project. He was a joy to work with.”
Luke and Ron went to work on the Free Little Pantry for four weekends, with extra helping hands from Luke’s older brother Anthony, 15. The end result was a “Free Little Pantry” Box that the DiLorenzos placed right out front of their Aston home in the 4600 block of Park Lane. People stop by and take what they want or they stop by to donate items. On any given day, the Free Little Pantry contains everything from pasta, granola bars, toothpaste and deodorant to bottled water, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, soap and ramen noodles.
Luke formulated plans to expand his project after he was invited to join
the Northley Middle School National Junior Honor Society last month. One of the things that he had to do for the application process was to list his community service and describe how he plans to bring a sense of community to the PennDelco School District.
Luke wrote in his application, “My idea is to connect my project to Northley Middle School and our community by requesting approval to make fliers for the school to pass out so that more people are aware of taking and donating to the Free Little Pantry.”
In other words, he wants to boost the foot traffic of givers and recipients at the Free Little Pantry. Confident that his project will soon generate an abundance of donations, Luke, who received an official letter of acceptance from
the National Junior Honor Society this week, hopes to soon connect with the Delco Food Project to give them the Little Pantry’s donation overflow.
“Luke is my future social worker,” mom Candice said proudly. “He has a great heart and is determined to finish whatever he starts.”