Snack stop
Do you run a mutual-aid or community-building space? Set up a snack stop. It can be as simple as a bowl of snacks for anyone who needs a pick-me-up. Encourage volunteers to use it, to make it easy for visitors. “Oh, we grab one any time we’re hungry!” goes a long way to make it feel okay for a hungry adult to grab a granola bar.
Or convert a little free library into a pantry or snack-stop. It’s an easy way to help feed people who aren’t used to needing help.
How to do it:
Between furloughs, rising prices and unemployment, and new obstacles for SNAP benefits, there are a lot of newly hungry families. Resources will be tapped harder than ever. Grocery stores have long had a “free cookie at the bakery” policy for kids, and some now have a bowl of bananas or oranges for hangry toddlers. We can do the same: put out an attractively displayed bowl of snacks or a “little library” style pantry of easily prepared foods with a welcoming sign. (This post has tips on building a Little Library.)
Stock granola bars or other sealed snacks with a friendly sign “Long day at school? Enjoy an after-school snack.” For kids going home to empty shelves this can be a real help. (Ask neighbors if they’ll pitch in a box of snacks weekly.) Focus on foods that will fill stomachs and fuel hope.
Or put out fun snacks with a sign specifically inviting adults to add some joy to their day. “When was the last time you had peanut butter crackers? Why not now!” has a very different feel from “if you’re hungry, take a snack!”
Getting food to the people who need it is about dignity, too. Look for ways to support local families as they move through their day, without it being “a whole thing.”
