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Suffolk Public Library debuted a new method to combat hunger in the City of Suffolk on Aug. 13. It unveiled the Community Fridge and Pantry during a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the ForKids Birdsong Center. Sponsored by Suffolk Public Library, ForKids, Lowe’s, Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia, Big Lots, and many others, the fridge and pantry provide fresh food for Suffolk community members in need. 

During the ceremony, ForKids Community Partnership Manager Marie Garrenton thanked Chef Harper Bradshaw of Harper’s Table for his idea and continuous support.

“When you’re going through it and someone tells you ‘Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,’ it’s not easy to hear, but now that we have been through some of it, I wish I could’ve trusted his words more,” Garrenton said.

Following the ceremony, ForKids Chief Executive Officer Thaler McCormick says the pantry will help struggling families. 

“Food security and homelessness and housing instability are really intertwined, so for us, we know when people are struggling to pay rent, they often aren’t able to feed their families good [and] healthy nutritious foods,” McCormick said. “So that’s why we’re in this.”

SPL Community Relations Librarian Amanda Henderson says the project reflected on putting the project together.

“There were absolutely some obstacles in getting us here, but if we didn’t have the community partnership that we did, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Henderson said. “This was a collaborative effort and I am just so proud of these organizations.”

FoodBank Retail Rescue Program Coordinator Leonna Benson says it was great to partner with SPL and ForKids for the pantry.

“Like Amanda said, it was great to have this great collaboration, because we tried to start this about a year ago and it was kind of difficult to get it up off the ground running,” Benson said. “But now that we have the collaboration with Suffolk Public Libraries and ForKids together, we’re able to get the relationship up off the ground running.”

Garrenton says that the pantry is open to those wanting to donate and those who are in need of food 24/7.

“We are not monitoring who’s coming [or] who’s going, we are just making sure that it’s clean and accessible to everyone,” she said. “We are always looking for donations of fresh produce like fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, bread, milk, eggs…and we really ask that no one donates anything that they wouldn’t feed to their own family.”  

Likewise, Garrenton calls the project “a labor of love.”

“I don’t mean to ‘harp’ on what Harper said, but really, things are working out the way that they’re supposed to,” Garrenton said. “And it’s beautiful when [the] community comes together to support each other.”