INDIANAPOLIS — A social media post from the FFA-inspired Indianapolis resident Elizabeth Friedland to open a Little Free Pantry outside her house. The FFA, who builds the pantries, was looking to give them to Indianapolis residents.
"I've wanted to do it for awhile now," Friedland said. "There's such a huge need in Indiana and really the whole U.S. with people who are food insecure or they're living paycheck to paycheck. There has been so many layoffs, you've got the cost of inflation happening, and we know that there's a need and people aren't getting enough to eat."
Frieldand put up the free pantry at Central Avenue and 52nd Street at the beginning of the month and said it needs to be restocked about every 36 hours.
"I think we live in probably one of the more affluent areas of Indianapolis, so I didn't know there would be a lot of need," Friedland said. "When I saw there were 12% of people living at or below the poverty line, I mean that's about 3,500 families just in this area, I was kind of amazed."
The pantry is open to everyone. Its slogan is: "Take what you need, give what you can." It's stocked with food, drink, toiletries and kids' toys.
You can follow the pantry on Instagram here.