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The five girls setting up a “Little Free Pantry” in Sayville to address food insecurity in the community each received a proclamation from the Town of Islip today.
In the last week, the girls have raised $3,850 through the effort’s GoFundMe page and thanks to the Greater Sayville Chamber of Commerce have secured a location for their first free community pantry — behind the chamber house near Stop & Shop.
Here’s the group at Islip Town Hall today.
Below is GreaterSayville’s initial follow-up story in its entirety.
That was fast.
GreaterSayville.com published a story this morning about five high school freshmen raising money to set up community food stations in town. Before a half-hour had passed, an $1,100 donation poured in.
Jamie and Brenda Atkinson, a Sayville couple, made the donation, which will enable the teens to purchase two pantry sheds and two installation posts. Their next step is to find a spot in town to put them.
“Someone just donated all of the money they need!!!! I’m shaking!!!” Tara Anu-Brady, whose daughter Molly is one of the ambitious girls spearheading the pantry effort, told GreaterSayville.com.
Molly is joined in the inspiring effort by her pals Courntney Thornton, Fallon Santoro, Loghan McNamara and Ellie Sheehan.
The girls originally looked to set up a Freedge — a community refrigerator that members can donate to or take from — to address food insecurity in the community. But logistics to purchase and set up a working refrigerator initially seemed difficult, so they settled, for the time being, on going for Little Free Pantries.
“It’s a great idea, and we wanted to make sure they take off running, while setting a good example for the community,” said Jamie Atkinson, a retired MTA detective and longtime member of the Community Ambulance Company who made his donation on a GoFundMe page set up by the teens.
“It is refreshing to see our young people being so selfless and community minded. I can not imagine being hungry or having to worry about placing food on the table,” he continued. “My wife and I are extremely lucky and fortunate to be able to give back.”
Little Free Pantry and Freedge are international movements that strive to make food available for anyone who needs or wants it.
Similar to the Little Free Library movement, Little Free Pantries allow people to leave or take dry, non-perishable goods like peanut butter, jam, snacks and other canned or boxed goods.
By 10 a.m., the five friends had raised $1,400.
The Atkinsons routinely look out for the youths of Sayville. Earlier this fall, Jamie Atkinson and his wife Brenda, who serves in the U.S. Navy, established an all-inclusive scholarship for one Sayville High School junior to attend a prestigious pre-college summer program at Notre Dame.
The “Susan & Harold Atkinson Scholarship,” in memory of Jamie Atkinson’s parents, will entirely fund the highly competitive Notre Dame Summer Scholars’ Program in South Bend, Indiana, this summer.
