The Free Pantry at Ingleside helps northern beaches families battling to put food on the table
After hearing countless stories about northern beaches families battling to put food on the table amid the cost-of-living crisis, a cafe owner has set up a free roadside pantry.
Manly
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Northern beaches families struggling through the cost-of-living crisis are being helped by a cafe owner who has set up a “free” roadside pantry stocked with food and household essentials.
Those finding it difficult to fill their own cupboards can stop at “The Free Pantry” – open seven days a week, 24 hours a day – on the grass verge outside 280 Powderworks Rd at Ingleside.
Solace Kitchen cafe owner Melinda Chiew is the woman behind the pantry that contains non-perishable itens such as canned soup and necessities including soap, toothpaste and toilet paper.
With the creed “take what you need, leave what you don’t” Ms Chiew has been urging householders who have spare, or unused grocery items, to drop them off in the wooden, glass-fronted pantry, outside the Baptist Church On The Hill.
She said the pantry was unlocked and anyone who needed food could help themselves.
Ms Chiew, who used to run her outdoor cafe at the Church On The Hill at Ingleside, before moving to the carpark at the Northgate Church at Belrose, said she was saddened by the number of stories she had heard about people doing it tough on the northern beaches.
“I knew people who were in need,” she said.
“And there are more and more people struggling to feed their families right now.
“I hate food waste. I just thought that everybody has something in their pantry that they don’t need and has been sitting their for ages, and they chuck it out,’’ she said.
“It doesn’t make sense to me that some people are throwing out food while other people are starving.
“I thought why not have a place, just like community street libraries, where people can go for what they really need.”
Ms Chiew said the roadside pantry was great for those who may be too embarrassed or proud to ask for help.
She recently received a “really lovely letter”, left inside the pantry where three bags of groceries had just been donated, from a family thanking those who had set it up.
“They wrote that they had been going through a really hard time and ‘this was a lifesaver for us’.’’
Ms Chiew said the family wrote that they were not in need anymore and had dropped off the bags of groceries because they were now able “to give back”.
“That just really brought me to tears, actually,’’ she said.
“I know the pantry’s helping people, but to hear it put that way meant it’s all worthwhile”
If you can help, drop off items outside 280 Powderworks Rd, Ingleside.
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