Annie Zwisler, public relations and development manager for the library, said she wanted to make it easier for rural Portage residents, who may have trouble reaching urban food pantries to access food assistance.
“A lot of places like our nearby village of Wyndham, they're in food deserts, which means that they don't have access to a grocery store that offers produce or any sustainable food in a certain mileage or certain radius,” Zwisler said. “So having this here is a great way to supplement that and be able to provide assistance to those who need it, as well as being here right before the holidays too.”
Rural areas face unique challenges when it comes to food assistance, according to Todd Schlereth, program outreach manager for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
“I've seen a lot of smaller communities that have a family dollar to get groceries at and that's it,” Schlereth said.“ ... it's not like going to a large supermarket where you have lots of variety and lots of choices, in particular with fresh produce, things that need to be refrigerated or frozen.”
While more pop-up distributions are scheduled in December and January in Garrettsville and Randolph, Zwisler said she hopes it’ll be a yearly occurrence.
“We're hoping even if maybe next year we can establish something again in November and December for the holiday season, but we're just in that planning mode right now,” Zwisler said.
More information can be found by visiting Ideastream, which covered the November pop-up pantry and the December pop-up pantry.