Theresa Weisbrod’s Dogtown backyard could enchant anyone. Chickens wander freely about the premises, pecking at little bits of grass and clucking happily as they gambol their way about the setups of rustic paraphernalia sprinkled throughout her fairy garden. Peer through her back door—down her knick-knack-speckled porch vestibule and into the kitchen—and you’ll see vestiges of a domestic
sanctuary: a quaint, cheery stove in the kitchen’s center; all manner of tchotchkes peppered about to satisfy any renaissance man or woman’s curiosity; and, of course, culinary masterpieces in various stages of completion on her counter or in the oven.
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It is from here that Weisbrod and her son, Joe, opened the Little Free Food Pantry and Library in September 2020. Initially, Theresa was inspired to begin this enterprise after her own family received an excess of food from another local food pantry, and she found herself contemplating different ways they could share the abundance with others in need. She reasoned that doing so could not only be a way of paying it forward in the midst of all the 2020 crises, but it could also serve as a way for her to share her own gifts and passion for creating with the world.
Weisbrod considers herself a “decent cook” who can make some “things out of things,” so, with this mentality, she and her son, Joe, reconnoitered and rehabbed a few pieces of old furniture for supply storage, posted about their new venture on the Dogtown community Facebook page, and watched in awe as it quickly snowballed into the pantry setup that sits at the back of the Weisbrod property today. The oasis is replete with all manner of aesthetics and necessities, containing components like a white hutch with red trim for food storage, a London telephone booth–like beverage stand (which Weisbrod herself restocks with hot chocolate, coffee, and water daily), a little free library, and a community piano, which was added to the space just a few weeks ago. The setup is kept stocked with a robust, rotating cornucopia of food and personal care supplies and treats, with everything from individually-packaged cereal bowl kits, to masks, to canned soups, to holiday-themed surprises, like Christmas cookies or Halloween candy.
“I feel like people really need help,” she says, “but you don’t need to go to a place where you feel more depressed than you already do. I just want it to be a nice place to go.”
Weisbrod says that this whole venture wouldn’t exist at its current scale if it weren’t for how much the Dogtown community has stepped up and made this a real family and communal affair through donations, support, and encouragement. The community currently contributes to this endeavor by purchasing supplies off of the pantry’s Amazon wish list, supplying needs-as-they-arise (for example, a member gave galvanized roofing, free of charge, for the beverage booth’s construction), and assembling individualized care packages of items like masks, women’s undergarments, gloves, and hand sanitizer, for those who need them.
Above all else, Weisbrod says that operating the food pantry has taught her to not judge others by what they look like on the outside. She spoke at length of how she has encountered so many different people from a variety of walks of life since she began this venture, particularly young adults who have simply fallen on hard times during this past year. Ultimately, though, Weisbrod’s Little Free Food Pantry and Library is there for whoever needs it, from the casual pedestrian strolling by and grabbing one of the mini-bottled waters, to the person needing a place to sit for a minute and enjoy an accessible meal.
Her future plans for the space include adding a big table in the summer where people can exchange plants, in a sort of neighborhood “garden club,” and—post-COVID—she wants to continue to cultivate the space as a community gathering place and judgment-free resource year-round for anyone who wants to partake in it.
With a mischievous grin, however, Weisbrod explains that the expansion hinges upon her son’s continued willingness to clear out the vegetation in their yard, in order to make room for the next round of upgrades: “Every time I come up with a brilliant idea,” she says, laughing, “Joe has to go down there and chop down hedges.” She smiles, knowingly. “I couldn’t do it without Joe, either, I tell ya.”
