WILDWOOD CREST – Wildwood Crest Commission, during its Nov. 24 meeting, discussed the implementation of a “little free pantry” within the borough.
The idea came as a request for a “little free pantry” to be located at a borough-owned building on behalf of a third-grade class at Crest Memorial School to help the hungry throughout the holidays.
Mayor Don Cabrera noted that the students will “build what they’d like to see” regarding the pantry.
A few different locations for the pantry were discussed, including the Crest pool, Crest Pier, or even the library. Because there are already donations going to the Crest Pier, as pointed out by Commissioner Joyce Gould, that location was ruled out.
It was also pointed out that there are food drives during the holidays where donations go to the Lazarus House Food Pantry, in Wildwood, as well.
“What I’ve never understood is why people seem to give food for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the other days, nobody worries about,” Gould said. “Hunger is hunger, and, unfortunately, it is in this community, and it should be understood, and it should be taken care of, and we should not have people in this very wonderful town go hungry.”
The “little free pantry” will be a year-round collection of donations, according to the request.
Commissioner David Thompson added that he has noticed that a lot of the pantries he has seen are out in the sun and that the “little free pantry” should have some sort of shade to avoid food going bad.
All commissioners were in favor of the idea, and it was decided that the pantry may be implemented at the recreation building, so that someone is there year-round to monitor it.
