Instead of having mini libraries, why not mini food banks with non perishable goods and, tp, hygiene supplies etc.
Posted by Ancient_Unit6335@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 30 comments
Beneficial-Escape-56@reddit
You mean like this?
https://freefoodfridgealbany.com/
notaninfringement@reddit
The Coop also started the Period Pantry recently. Hi, fellow local!
Boulange1234@reddit
There’s one in my community. There’s one with an outdoor fridge that’s really neat in Baltimore.
ZaneFreemanreddit@reddit
Same, outside a few religious institutions. The bagel stores sometimes pit their extra bagels there too.
Dalton387@reddit
I didn’t realize it was already a thing before reading comments.
I couldn’t see it working where I live. I think they work differently. A mini library theoretically works on someone borrowing a book, reading it, and returning it to that or another library. People adding their own books as well. I’m sure some people keep them occasionally, but it’s typically not a consumable.
I like the idea of a mini pantry, but I can see reasons it might not work. One is safety concerns. Books just are. Unless someone dusts them with something, it’s pretty neutral. With food, people could leave things that are expired and potentially a health risk. There are also weirdos who will do things to the food. It’s rare, but there were reasons hospitals would X-ray candy for free at Halloween.
Also, I don’t think they’d work in my area as my town has some pretty low class people. The kind of people who don’t need any help, but would go clean one out, just so they didn’t have to spend their money.
I’m sure that could happen anywhere, but it would be a big problem in my area. It’s not just speculation for anyone thinking I don’t know if they really need it or not. These people I’m talking about brag about that kind of stuff. Like they’ve found a loop hole in the system.
It’s a cool concept and I could see it working in some places. My dad comes from a poor area and I don’t think anyone in that area would do what the people in my town would.
thirdeyefish@reddit
These exist!
Im_high_as_shit@reddit
Libraries cost less
Soft_Refuse_4422@reddit
And books are re-usable to trade with the next person
film_composer@reddit
Why “instead of”? Does having one exclude the possibility of having the other?
iaminabox@reddit
I have 3 within 2 blocks of my house. I donate frequently because we have a large homeless population. Plus I always buy a few cheap can openers from the dollar store and leave them there.
OkPickle2474@reddit
The county I live in has about sixty of these boxes/sheds you’re describing. They work really well. Donate what you can, take what you need, and the people who set them up receive corporate or large donations to distribute. They also do a drive through pantry sometimes with perishables.
Maybe once or twice a year, they have to make an announcement about only taking so much, etc. but mostly they work well and as intended.
Temporary-Comfort307@reddit
Unless you have staff supervising everything will just get stolen, and there is a good chance it will be vandalised as well. Nothing brings out the worst side of people like providing free things.
The cupboard up the road that provides food has a lady who lives there who refills things multiple times a day so that there is not too much there at any one time. People will come and take absolutely everything that is in there. They will throw food on the ground if it doesn't meet their specifications. One cupboard was stolen. There has been fish hidden at the back of the cupboard to go off. There are people that will deliberatly open all the doors so that animals can get in to steal the food.
The nearby market that distributes fresh food that was going to be thrown out has multiple volunteers supervising and still has a lot of trouble. People try to take more than the item limits, try to cheat the allocation system to get extra, they argue with staff and there have been a few fights and assualt of the staff members.
I love the idea of sharing food and essential items, but it is not that simple to actually do successfully. There are some free libraries that have problems with theft and vandalism, supplying any sort of food/toiletries etc. just makes it even more likely.
Sufficient-Dog-2337@reddit
Yup…. And now the homeless hang around the cupboard and some cause disturbances. People become less likely to go donate to the cupboard.
Scroll up in the comment and see the mobile van is the way…
Can’t feed the pigeons without getting bird poop everywhere.
murphsmodels@reddit
I'd be willing to give to homeless if I knew they appreciated it, or needed it. I spent a few weeks homeless, and stayed at a homeless shelter. Quite a few people there would talk about how long they had been "off the system". One lady was proud that she'd been living on the streets since the 80's (this was in 2010).
Another time, I'd gotten a job driving buses for the city, and I got to deal with the homeless a lot. They use the buses as free air conditioning. I got to listen to a couple of kids in their 20s count up how much money they'd been given, and making plans to "go back to the hotel room and get drunk and stoned".
Those were the ones rational enough to be considered human. Mostly they just sat in their own filth, shitting and pissing themselves and threatening other passengers. I never went a day without having to take a bus out of service for biohazard cleanup.
Cameront9@reddit
Several local churches have exactly this.
Sean_theLeprachaun@reddit
We have one in an old phone booth in town.
Mein_Name_ist_falsch@reddit
Foodsharing already exists. Don't know if that looks like a mini library, but you can get free food from people this way.
humanjunkshow@reddit
Where I live, bears.
Carlpanzram1916@reddit
You mean like a food bank? We have those.
MagpieLefty@reddit
There's no reason for it to be "instead of"--little free pantries already exist, as well as little free libraries.
riarws@reddit
Like these? https://www.littlefreepantry.org/
weirdinchicago@reddit
Someone set one up in my neighborhood, but it was taken down because there was a nearby homeless encampment with people in it with drug problems and criminal records causing a lot of trouble.
AccomplishedDark9255@reddit
There's free food and occasionally miscellaneous other goods stand near my kids school with all sorts of signage and cameras, seems to be enough to discourage really bad behavior its been running for several years now. Staple is "expired" groceries but I think the locals also use it to move on functional items they don't want, anything from canned goods, high chairs, books and once an entire oven.
Efficient_Fish2436@reddit
What if someone gets deathly sick from something? There's no accountability or prevention. It's exactly why places can't just go and give left over or food about to expire to places.
It sucks I know. But it's a law r/writteninblood people have died from it.
VivaLirica@reddit
Bit of a mug's game. To have free stuff left out requires a high-trust society that creates the kind of people who would take only what they desperately need, and leave the rest to share with others that need help, as well as people who take nothing if they can afford to buy their own. The challenge is that those kind of societies tend to take care of people who need help in many other ways, so the need for mini food banks etc is not as great as in societies that produce a lot of poor people. Exceptions exist, of course, where people live in poverty and are also altruistic.
Intelligent_Donut605@reddit
There are heaps where i live, just a fridge in a little wokden bix where you can grab food if you reslly need it
Turbulent-Name-8349@reddit
I saw one yesterday for the very first time. Mini library and food bank in one.
QueenieMcGee@reddit
I go to something like this! It's run by the local Anglican church and they operate out of a van that visits different neighbourhoods. Everyone gets to fill up one grocery bag full of non-perishable pantry staples like flour, long life milk, pasta, rice, canned vegetables, tuna, biscuits, etc, etc. They also sometimes have bags of toiletries or cleaning supplies, but availability depends. It's been a real lifesaver for me.
Liraeyn@reddit
Those exist in some places
random-guy-here@reddit
They do.
I have even seen a Mini Craft supply box for fun things to do with your kids!