A tiny solution to big needs: Here’s how a Johnson County pantry helps those in need

It’s been three years since Jennifer and Adam Parker started a food pantry in their front yard, and the need is strong. Tiny Pantry Times still runs out of their Overland Park yard, but it’s not so tiny anymore.

They’re hoping to move it to a bigger space, but that probably won’t happen until late next year.

Overland Park Christian Church has offered to house it, but the Parkers need to make a few modifications, such as a heated and lit ramp from the building to the street. Currently, other construction is going on next door at the fire station that would make parking difficult.

When the pantry does move, it will still be streetside and available at all hours, but Jennifer Parker will have room to store more food and space for more volunteers.

Right now, she estimates the pantry goes through about 18,000 pounds of food and hygiene supplies every month. In addition to individual donations from her neighbors and others who want to help, she gets help filling the box from other pantries, coffee shops and grocery stores.

A lot of that is food recovery, which means taking goods that are still good and would otherwise be thrown away. Jennifer Parker uses Food Donation Connection to find local places that will work with them.

Their partners include Jewish Family Services, Zu’s Underground, Cosentino’s Market, Hy-Vee, Texas Roadhouse, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and various vendors at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market.

It’s tough to find grants to support their work, because those distributing the money want recipients identified. That’s a deal-breaker for the Parkers.

“Honestly, it’s embarrassing for a lot of our clientele to actually have to use the pantry, so we have protected their anonymity for three years and plan to continue to do so,” she said.

The Parkers originally started the whole thing as a Little Free Library, but they added a food component in September 2020, after the library had been going for five months. A mini-fridge now holds meat and dairy items, including breakfast sandwiches.

Items are available to anyone — no questions asked and no identification required. People come by car, by bike or on foot to use the pantry at all hours of the day and night. Because the box is in the yard, people can access it whenever they need to do so.

Parker and her husband fill the pantry as many as 10 times a day. That’s a lot to ask of anyone, and seven others from their neighborhood have also stepped up to help fill the pantry. Both Parkers work full time in addition to running their pantry.

“We never know when donations are going to come in,” Jennifer Parker said. We tell everyone, ‘Just leave it on our front porch.’ And then we have since dedicated a bedroom to become the pantry for the pantry. So all of our back stock is now taking up one full bedroom and our garage.”

She tells the people who come to Tiny Pantry Times that if they get unopened, in-date items they can’t use from other pantries, they can donate them back to Tiny Pantry Times.

“It becomes a cyclic thing where recipients become donors and donors help other recipients,” she said. “It kind of alleviates some of the stigma of pantry usage, because now they feel like they are helping others while they are getting help. That’s been our whole philosophy and hashtag: Take what you need and share what you can.”

Jennifer Parker said she has an entire gallon-sized bag full of thank-you notes that she keeps from people who have used the pantry.

Vicki Kilkenny and her husband live on a fixed income in Overland Park, and sometimes they faced the choice of either buying medications or buying food. For them, the pantry seemed like it came from “tiny angels.”

Not only did a volunteer help her learn about Tiny Pantry Times but she helped Kilkenny navigate the ways to use other local pantries to cobble together what she needed each month.

“It’s a lot to set up. They’re not young people,” said Kilkenny of the Parkers. “I’ve seen them with hurt backs, hurt shoulders, and they’re still carrying a bag of groceries to put it in there so someone can eat that night.”

Kilkenny said a lot of people have seen their benefits decrease or end as special pandemic funding programs have stopped.

“There’s just so many hungry people in Johnson County. I never thought I would see it happen like that, but it’s here,” Kilkenny said.

For more information on Tiny Pantry Times, visit tinypantrytimes.org. The pantry is always open at 7215 W. 71st St. in Overland Park. Donated items the Parkers can always use include any canned meat, feminine hygiene items, bottled water and canned or dried fruit. To donate money, use the links on the website.

This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 5:00 AM.