If money is tight and the cupboards are bare, there’s a place to go where there’s a little cupboard that should always be well stocked.
Cedar Park Church, at 5300 - 44th Ave., has opened The Sharing Cupboard, a free-standing cupboard on the church’s grounds that will be stuffed full of goodies that can help stretch a grocery dollar.
Anyone can use the cupboard which will be stocked by church members or by anyone who wants to bring a donation of non-perishable items such as pasta, cereal, granola bars, rice, or milk powder.
The Sharing Cupboard is open 24 hours a day to anyone.
“All are welcome at any time,” said church member Kristina Schierbecker. “I want more people to actually take things and not drop off things. I just want people to use it and help their bottom line.”
She heard recently how people are choosing between rent and buying groceries, “and that’s not right,” she said.
“As a church, we want to be there for the vulnerable people in our community.”
The cupboard is for anyone who needs it, from anywhere, at anytime, and no one is monitoring it, she added.
“It’s just anybody who just needs a little extra, whenever they need it, even if you want to come in the middle of the night,” she said.
Schierbecker said she was inspired by other community food pantries in North Delta, where four are operated by other local churches. Sharing Cupboards are also found across the country and some in Vancouver are refrigerated, she added.
The cupboards are securely mounted and animal proof. If there’s no space to leave groceries, people can leave them in an overflow box in the church’s entrance. There’s also a list of needed items in the cupboard.
And so far, vandalism hasn’t been a problem at the other cupboards in North Delta, she added.
“People are generally good to not hurt things,” she said.
The cupboard is maintained daily by volunteers who check for expired, opened or inappropriate items, and is sanitized and stocked. It is meant to augment the resources already available in our community, such as the South Delta Food Bank which is also spreading the word about the cupboard.
