Everyone deserves to eat. That is the simple philosophy that guides Ashley Hartig to host a porch pantry at her Milliken home.
The community donates food to the pantry, and anyone who needs help can take food. That ranges from people who just need a box of mac and cheese for dinner that night to those who need help making it through the week.
“Anyone can come by any time, no questions asked,” Hartig said. “Just take what you need.”
When federal officials froze SNAP benefits last fall, Hartig noticed more people needing help to put food on the table.
As a mother of four, Hartig could not imagine being unable to feed her kids. She wanted to make sure others didn’t live in that fear.
What started as a small bookshelf with food on two shelves has become two full shelving units full of food and a minifridge on her front porch. Even after SNAP benefits resumed, she noticed the community still needed a local pantry, so she continued to host it.
At minimum, one person visits the pantry a day since it opened. As long as people need it, Hartig will continue to host the pantry.
Hartig said eating and being able to feed your family should be a basic human right.
“You have to eat to live,” she said. “So if someone isn’t able to, let’s help them.”
Hartig ensures the pantry is stocked with some basics herself, but the pantry also gets a lot of donations. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, people donated turkeys. People have also donated a case of ground beef, among other regular donations.
One neighbor, who prefers to go by DW, said donating to the porch pantry is a way to make a direct contribution to her community.
DW became emotional as she reflected on how she has only ever been to food banks to give, never to receive.
“I feel that in my life, in general, it’s our duty to help others,” she said. “It’s our privilege.”
Before starting the pantry, Hartig volunteered at food banks. But she noticed people sometimes didn’t have time to pick up food or they didn’t need a full grocery order. Sometimes people just needed enough to get by until their next paycheck.
The porch pantry provides a local and accessible way for people to get as much or as little as they need.
For Weld Food Bank spokesman Weston Edmunds, Hartig’s porch pantry is a beautiful example of neighbors helping neighbors.
“It’s a wonderful show of heart and generosity,” Edmunds said.
Hartig’s work helps make food more accessible, adding to larger community resources that must follow guidelines regarding how food is stored, distributed and accounted for.
The Milliken Food Pantry is open 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. the first and third Mondays of the month and from 3-5:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday following the first Monday of each month at 201 S. Olive Ave., . The Mobile Food Pantry is available from 10-11:30 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month at 320 Centennial Drive in Milliken.
The mobile food bank, like the porch pantry, is designed to tackle hunger where it’s at, rather than having people make a large commute to get their food.
The Weld Food Bank hosts multiple mobile food pantry events throughout the county. More information is available at weldfoodbank.org.
Though Hartig’s porch pantry is limited to the size of her porch, her impact may reach further as she encourages others who may be thinking of doing the same to go for it. She posts more information, including her address so people know where to access help or donate, to the private Facebook group “Milliken/Johnstown discussion.”
When she first started her porch pantry, she was worried about pushback from the community. But that pushback never arrived. Three months in, Hartig said she’s only received positive feedback on the pantry. By connecting with neighbors, whether in person or on social media, a neighbor’s small porch pantry can turn into another neighbor’s lifeline, she said.
The pantry is run off a trust system. Though she has a doorbell camera and leaves the porch light on all night, she hasn’t had any trouble with people abusing the pantry. And as long as that trust exists, the porch pantry will keep on running.
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