Have you walked by the Homestead School in Hurleyville recently and seen the small cupboard out front? That’s a food pantry designed by students Adelaide Robbins and Aidan Fedorick.

The food pantry is a recycled podium that was repainted, repaired and improved with a door and was clear-coated so that it can withstand the elements, making it fully accessible to the public.

The students worked for four months on this project; talking with community members that work with food insecurity, repurposing the structure of the pantry, and trying to raise awareness about their effort.

Spreading awareness is what’s crucial for the project right now. People can help by telling those they know about the pantry and explaining how to donate goods to it. Making sure small businesses are aware of the pantry so they can inform their customers is also helpful, and telling food banks and shelters that aren’t open every day so their visitors know of this option is important as well. Donations of nonperishable items – canned foods, soups, cereals, etc. – may be placed in the pantry located in front of the school.

Robbins and Fedorick learned in class about helping the local community, and both were focused on food insecurity. Robbins wanted to have an immediate impact on the issue by building a food pantry, and considered the possibility of finding jobs for community members; Fedorick was interested in getting food sellers – restaurants and grocery stores – to donate excess food to food banks and wanted to create an annual food drive. So they combined their ideas by creating the food pantry and spreading awareness of its existence while encouraging the public and many stores to contribute to its upkeep.

The two students are both extremely passionate about the pantry, and want it to be a reliable food source for those who need it. In the words of Mother Theresa, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, just feed one,” and as Bono put it, “If you want to eliminate, hunger everybody has to be involved”

The pantry is located at the Homestead School, 202 Main Street in Hurleyville.