MANSFIELD — Kathy McGlone knows what it’s like to go hungry.
“I myself have three boys,” she said. “As a single parent, there were times I didn’t eat so that they could eat.”
It’s been a long time since McGlone had to skip meals to feed her family, but those memories stuck with her. They came back during the pandemic, amid news reports of long lines at pantries across the country.
After her adult son shared a photo of himself and his girlfriend stocking a food pantry in Columbus, she felt inspired to make a difference, too.
McGlone decided to start her own food pantry. She contacted Lexington Mayor Brian White, who suggested she reach out to Pastor Andy Beare at Heartland Church.
McGlone modeled the pantry after the Little Free Library movement, which encourages people to install large mailboxes where anyone can take books or leave some for others.
Beare agreed to let McGlone erect a “little free pantry” in the church’s parking lot and even recruited the church youth group and trustees to build it.
“We loved the idea because we didn’t know of anything in Lexington like it,” Beare said. “But we wanted to do it on a scale that served more people. So our church got behind it and we built a little shed.”
The pantry is self-serve and open 24/7. The shed remains unlocked and stocked with non-perishable items. McGlone and other volunteers stop by nearly every day to stock up the shelves.
“I can’t keep it stocked. I get scared to open it some days,” she said.
McGlone has seen a variety of people visit the pantry, including a woman wearing scrubs with two carseats in her vehicle.
“It’s been all walks of life from elderly to disabled, families and young couples with children,” she said. “The kids run up to the door like they can’t wait to get in there. They’ll come out with just a bag or two.”
McGlone said the pantry is equipped with a security camera, but theft hasn’t really been a problem. Last week, she asked Beare to review the footage after a full supply of food was gone in just five hours.
The footage revealed a number of families visited during that time period, but none took more than two or three bags of groceries.
“We saw the usage jump after the recent storm that knocked power out for people so I think a lot of people lost food,” Beare said.
At one point last year, someone took the miniature space heater that runs during the winter to keep the food from freezing.
Beare was able to find out who took the heater — a mother desperate to keep her house warm in the dead of winter.
“We didn’t want the police to arrest them because there was obviously a need,” Beare said. “We went to that person’s house and they were very embarrassed. I told them I wasn’t there to yell at them, I just wanted to hear their story.”
After the visit, Beare bought the mother a full-sized space heater and helped her get a job.
McGlone said the pantry is open to anyone in need, not just Lexington residents. Visitors are encouraged to take what they need and bring what they can.
Anyone who is able is encouraged to drop off unexpired, non-perishable food, hygiene products and school supplies. Contributors can stock the products or leave them on the floor of the shed to be stocked later.
All are welcome to visit Heartland at 2505 S. Lexington Springmill Road for Sunday services from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., or if they need general assistance.
