Our Saviour’s Lutheran in Naperville launches Little Free Pantry

To help meet the need for easily accessible meals and snacks for those who may not be able to afford to pay, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Naperville has launched a Little Free Pantry open to anyone in need.

The Little Free Pantry, modeled after “share a book, take a book” Little Free Libraries, is located behind Our Saviour\'s campus at 815 S. Washington St., next to Edward Hospital. It is stocked with a variety of easy-open meals and snacks and is maintained by a team of volunteers who replenish the pantry with donations from the congregation.

“The OSLC Little Free Pantry is part of a grass-roots movement to address local need, whether it is a need for food or a need to give,” said associate pastor Elisabeth Pynn Himmelman, who helped organize the Little Free Pantry at the church. “It is a way to live out the Gospel, remembering that Jesus said, ‘I was hungry and you fed me … every time you did this for the least of these, you did it for me’.”

High school Scouts from the church and members of Our Saviour’s Do It Yourself team helped build the Little Free Pantry earlier this month, and students at OSLC’s vacation Bible school did the initial sorting and stocking for the pantry.

The Little Free Pantry movement started with a pilot project by Jessica McClard in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2016 and has since spread across the country and around the world.

“The Little Free Pantry doesn’t fix food insecurity, but it does offer immediate access to free, nonperishable food items for anyone struggling with access to food, someone in need of a snack after a long day or a home cook who forgot to buy a can of soup,” Pynn Himmelman said. “The main idea: Take what you need, give what you can!”

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, an inclusive, welcoming Reconciling in Christ church and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has two campuses in central Naperville: at 815 S. Washington St. and at 919 S. Washington St. For more information, visit oursaviours.com.