Ohio residents stock ‘Blessing Boxes’ to help ease hunger of those in need
COLUMBUS, Ohio — At least twice a day, Sarah Grim carries a bag of groceries from her front door to a structure resembling a large birdhouse or rabbit hutch in front of her home. She’s re-stocking her pop-up food pantry, also known as a Blessing Box. “I go through my cupboards. My friends bring me stuff. I just like helping people,” she said. Grim is one of dozens of central Ohioans who manage the small structures whose hinged doors provide nourishment to those in critical need. For those who feel blessed to have a job, good health and food for their families, the projects are a way to return goodwill to those who may be unable to pay the rent, car repair bills or other deal with a financial crisis that propels them into a spiral of food insecurity. At the same time, they leave operators fulfilled, especially during the holidays, when they also might carry a weight of responsibility, even guilt, when the pantries become bare. “A lot of people take around here,” said Grim, “more than they leave. They don’t really have a lot to bring.” Fully stocking her Blessing Box with high quality food requires more than $100, she estimates. She recently sent out a request for help on social media: “This box is used ALL THE TIME, at least 15-20 times a day. I fill it as much as I can. But my resources are running out. If anyone would like to stop buy and bring some non-perishable food items it would mean so much to the people that need it.” Within days, strangers were stopping by to fill it, Grim said. “Hosts,” as box operators are called, shouldn’t feel a responsibility to keep them stocked, said Gretchen Davis, founder of the Carroll, Ohiobased Columbus Blessing Boxes Project, a 3-yearold nonprofit organization that supplies the boxes. “No one expects one person to do this,” she said.. The increased demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn has been “more than anybody could ever see,” Davis said. Her installations have more than doubled from 35 at the beginning of March. “What I tell my hosts is that we are not a food pantry. We are here to bridge the gap.” It typically takes a few weeks for a neighborhood to learn about the boxes and how they work, Davis said. “And then the community just kind of takes over and people just come and add things.” People also are copying the concept, painting castoff newspaper boxes, cabinets, even plastic bins, offering free food, toiletries and baby supplies. Davis’ website includes a map of all locations for both the needy and those willing to share. For Grim, the rewards are worth the effort and cost. “As long as I’m helping someone, it’s worth it,” she said. Some hosts have been participating for years, advancing the Little Free Library concept of book sharing to food. For the past five years, Michael Uetrecht has operated a Blessing Box outside his home near Ann and Sycamore streets in the Southern Orchards neighborhood south near Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He not only stocks it with bread and canned goods, but on weekends, he also makes turkey and ham sandwiches. “Any time I put stuff in, it goes really quickly,” he said. “Even if it’s storming out, it goes in about two hours. His motivation? He said an aunt inspired him with her generosity, and he understands the reality that life can turn on you without much warning. “I just think that there’s a lot of bad stuff out there,” he said. “Any small, positive energy that I can put out there only helps ... I hope.” Uetrecht is employed by a large clinical research company, helping to develop vaccines, among other things. But he knows that employment, and prosperity can be fleeting. “It’s a small twist of fate that anything is able to change, and we could all be in that situation,” he said. Unlike food pantries that might require recipients to sign up and show proof of need, the pop-up boxes require nothing beyond honesty and hunger. “One of the things that our boxes give to people is anonymity, which some of these other pantries don’t,” said Davis. “You can go out at night, when nobody will see you. I think that provides some dignity.”