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Little Free Food Pantry unveiled at Fishersville library

Chaz and Tricia Fillion, in gray, were joined by Library Director Jennifer Brown, Branch Manager Douglas Keith, and representatives from Bear Creek Outdoor Living.
Randi B. Hagi
Chaz and Tricia Fillion, in gray, were joined by Library Director Jennifer Brown, Branch Manager Douglas Keith, and representatives from Bear Creek Outdoor Living.

A miniature food pantry was unveiled at the Augusta County Library in Fishersville last week. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

On Thursday, a small group cheered as Tricia Fillion cut the ribbon encircling the "Little Free Food Pantry."

TRICIA FILLION: Alright, ready? One, two, three! [cheers]

Modeled after the Little Free Libraries, the pantry is like a cabinet mounted on posts. Its shelves are lined with pastas and sauce, bread and jam, and potatoes and onions – free for whoever needs a meal. This is the first of six planned by The Neighbor Bridge – a small nonprofit co-founded by Tricia and her husband, Chaz.

CHAZ FILLION: Well, let's see, it's been up for about a week and a half right now, and we've already processed through about 60 pounds of food.

The organization grew out of their personal project of donating Thanksgiving dinners to local families. They started with 27 families in 2019, and grew to 100 last year. They also now provide winter coats for the children.

FILLION: From that, people were like, hey you should really go nonprofit. And we're like, if we do that, we need more projects.

They contacted the library to see if they'd be interested in a pantry. Branch Manager Douglas Keith explains –

DOUGLAS KEITH: We also have the BRITE bus stop here, so we have folks from all areas that are coming to use the library facilities. … Anybody in the community can take food that they need or give food that they want to donate.

The pantry was constructed by Bear Creek Outdoor Living, and on the back it holds flyers listing 29 full-scale food pantries across the county for those who need more assistance.

Randi B. Hagi first joined the WMRA team in 2019 as a freelance reporter. Her writing and photography have been featured in The Harrisonburg Citizen, where she previously served as the assistant editor; as well as The Mennonite; Mennonite World Review; and Eastern Mennonite University's Crossroads magazine.