A Little Caring Cupboard has been set up next to the United Church in Brigden so those in need in the area don’t go hungry.
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“We started very small,” said Barb Steadman, one of the project’s organizers.
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The cupboard is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to anyone visiting it at the Jane Street church’s back door.
“It’s an urgent need cupboard,” stocked with donated food, she said.
The aim is to help anyone in need, such as young families, singles or seniors running short of food before their next check.
Organizers visited similar projects at United Churches in Bothwell and Thamesville before the Brigden cupboard opened in December, Steadman said.
“It hasn’t been used a lot,” she said, perhaps because word hasn’t got out yet, it debuted when holiday food hampers were being distributed, or because “there’s not as much of a need out here.”
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But organizers hope those in need won’t be afraid to use the cupboard, Steadnan said. “That’s what it’s there for.”
Nanette Barnes, also with the church, said the congregation also supports local food banks, which report growing demand for food.
“We knew there’s people out there,” Barnes said. “We want to try and reach them.”
The board offers privacy to users, who can open it without speaking to anyone at the church, Barnes said. “It saves their dignity.”
“We want people who need it to use it,” she said.
On Thursday afternoons, a bin is set on the church’s front step of the church to accept donations for the project. Donors can call the church office at 519-864-1747 to arrange to drop off donations at other times.
“We do have quite a stock” of donated food, Steadman said. “The community has been awesome.”
Congregants and the school in Brigden donated food and Mainstreet Credit Union and a church member contributed financially, Barnes said.
Sarnia’s Inn of the Good Shepherd has also offered support, Steadman said.
If the cupboard gets too many food donations, they’ll be passed on to area food banks, she said.
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