New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘There is clearly a need’
Food project allow people to take or to give
MILFORD — It started with the goal of helping people have what they need to create a meal.
Now, the Purple Pantry Boxes project has grown to include seven sites in the city where folks can leave a donation or take the food they need.
Susan Brown began what would soon become the Purple Pantry Boxes project during her short break from her post as public defender for the Ansonia-Milford Judicial District.
“I saw something on the news, I don’t remember from what state, where someone had put a food pantry in their front yard and if someone needed food, they could just take it,” Brown said.
“In my mind, when I was first talking about this, I was thinking about the person who went to work every day. They didn't make a lot of money and by the end of the week they would still come up a bit short,” Brown said. “I wanted them to be able to go to one of these boxes, where they could get a box of pasta, where they could get a can of tuna fish and create a meal. That is what I had in mind before the pandemic.”
A project that began with three plastic bins placed in March has grown to seven boxes in a little over two months.
Brown put together a group of like-minded citizens to help the Purple Pantry Boxes feed the needy: Aaron Brown-Ortiz is the chief financial officer; Tyler Brown-Ortiz is the media director; Chris Grejtak and Walt Faulckner build the boxes; Larry Woodcock serves as the deployment specialist. The signs are designed by Denise Lukienchuk. Brown does the painting.
“I started in March with three plastic bins in three locations with signs asking for food donations, but the bins kind of disappeared along with the food,” Brown said. “I’m sure they needed the food, but I didn’t want to keep spending money on the bins that could go toward food items.
“We built a wood box, painted it and it grew from there. Now that the boxes are situated, the neighbors near the boxes all contribute,” said
Brown, who also has been filling these boxes with nonperishable and shelfstable food products that she buys.
“I go to the boxes every day, and there clearly there are more items in the boxes then when I left the day before,” Brown said “There is clearly a need. A box will be empty and the next day there will be four things in there and it will be full again before I leave.”
To get the word out, Brown turned to her son Tyler, who began posting the pantry locations on Facebook with the motto: Take what you need; donate if you can.
Community reaction was immediate
“People started reposting it,” Brown said. “Strangers started messaging me, ‘Can I put food on? What do I have to do?’ I wrote back for them to give what they could.”
Finding the right location for the boxes was important.
“By and large I was picking places I thought needed the help,” Brown said. “You never know what anyone is going through at a certain point in their lives. I knew we had to do it, especially by the middle of March when people were losing their jobs in droves.”
Memorial Day found her making her rounds. In one city neighborhood, for instance there are three subsidized housing units, Brown noted.
“There is a library box for the public to share at Gulf Beach and they were kind enough to put out a plastic bin nearby,” Brown said. “That one gets a lot of donations. It has grown a lot faster than I expected, but it also points to the need in the community.
“I met with the director of the Beth-El Center, Jennifer Paradis, and she said, ‘Sue, people that wouldn’t come here and ask for something will go to one of your pantries and find what they need.’ Sometimes people are there when I come to fill the boxes up,” Brown said. “They tell me their stories and it is heartbreaking.”
Brown said she is putting in the paperwork to create a nonprofit organization.
“That would be wonderful to get the cash donations. But I feel whether it be money or food, it is a donation going into the pantry,” Brown said. “The other day there were two envelopes placed in the box at Jepson Drive. Someone wrote on the envelopes, ‘Money pays the bills.’ They had put a pair of dollar bills in each of the envelopes.”
Brown said her son built the website and it shows there how people can donate. “One of his friends just had a food drive on Saturday. All his friends gave us a donation. We want people to have easy access to staple food items, while also asking members of the community to donate.”
Purple box locations are: Woodmont Borough Hall, 128 Kings Hwy.; Senior Center, 9 Jepson Drive, the parking lot at the corner of Ormand Street and Bridgeport Avenue;
YMCA, 631 Orange Ave.; DeMaio Gardens 75 DeMaio Drive; MAC Gallery 81 Naugatuck Ave.; and United Way, 20 Evergreen Ave.
Those in need of food can stop at a listed box location; all physical donations must be nonperishable, shelf stable and completely sealed. Donors are asked to check expiration dates before leaving items.
Those seeking to help can consider hosting a donation event (when permitted under coronavirus regulations) or asking guests to a family or other gathering to bring nonperishable food items. Purple Pantry Boxes can provide signs as well as donation pickups.
To get involved, or for information about ordering donation items to be sent to the Purple Pantry Boxes headquarters, email purplepantryboxes
@gmail.com or Facebook at purplepantryboxes.