​ Brewster Sophomore Nora Paladino Starts Little Free Pantry

While volunteering at Putnam Community Action Partnership’s (or Putnam CAP) food pantry, Brewster High School sophomore Nora Paladino felt the need to help Brewster’s food insecure even more.

“I realized that while there are wonderful resources for the food insecure, there are understandably some limitations,” Nora said. “People are only allowed to visit food pantries a specific number of times in a month, the hours of the food pantry may prevent people from getting what they need, and people might be too ashamed to go to a food pantry.”

This thought blossomed into Nora creating a Little Free Pantry at 10 Park Street.

Modeled after Little Free Libraries, these freestanding food pantries are generally stocked with nonperishable items that community members can take as needed.

“I thought Brewster could benefit from a supplement to food pantries that is open 24/7 and completely anonymous,” Nora explained.

After presenting her idea to the village board and working to get approval, Nora reached out to decide on the best location.

“We eventually landed on 10 Park Street, since it’s well-lit, has security cameras, is accessible by foot and by car, and is close to the center of the village,” she said.

Nora’s goal for the Little Free Pantry is rooted in civic responsibility: she hopes to help as many people as possible.

She seems off to a great start. According to the pantry’s Instagram page, Nora recently found a thank you note left by someone who said they were living in a camp in the woods nearby and were so grateful for the donations.

For more information and updates on the Little Free Pantry, you can visit the Facebook and Instagram pages Nora created. If you’d like to help, you can sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040F45AAAF2CA4F49-little.