Dear Friends,

Thank you to each of you who included a donation to my Little Free Pantry in your holiday giving. The boxes and boxes of items that arrived on my doorstep, as well as several cash donations, kept my pantry and the one maintained by the Herzog’s in Champaign well-stocked for the last two months. You can see a short new piece about the pantries in this area here.

Food insecurity remains a systemic problem as we enter 2021. Need is currently outpacing supply at my pantry. As of today, my pantry stocks have no canned meats, menstrual pads, cereal, gloves, ibuprofen, oatmeal, hand warmers, masks, Ramen, shampoo, or hearty snacks. My stocks are very low on hearty canned soups, canned fruit, hand sanitizer, tissues, boxed meals, and kids’ toothbrushes. You can browse through our needs and see what we identify as “highest” priority using this Amazon wishlist.

If you are able to give again at this time, we would be grateful. If you are not able, that is fine too. This is all about community and giving what we are able to give, knowing we will receive when we are in need in the future. Wherever you find yourselves, please stay safe!

With love,
Julie

P.S. If you have not been by to see it yet, I encourage you to visit the Open Heart COVID Memorial that was dedicated last Tuesday. This is one step toward healing as we continue to move through this incredibly difficult time.