We all know the saying about turning lemons into lemonade, but one local resident has taken that sentiment and turned it into a way to help others.
Crystal Enright came across two old and discarded magazine racks near her Oro-Medonte home and decided to repurpose them into a what she calls the Little Free Library and Pantry. She painted them and used a Cricut machine to cut out labels.
Enright told BarrieToday she had been noticing the little free libraries around Barrie, so when she found the boxes which had two openings, she thought including a pantry would be a great option.
“I thought books at the top would be awesome and then it had room for something else, so thought a pantry would be awesome,” she said.
“Then I saw a post by the Barrie Food Bank, which was working with some local churches in the area, after I had made them," Enright added. "They’d launched a new trial project for eight weeks where there are little free pantries all over the place. As soon as that trial finishes I am going to collaborate with them and they are going to fill my pantry as well if the trial is successful.”
Enright has an application in with the City of Barrie in the hopes of installing one of the Little Free Libraries and Pantries at the downtown bus terminal. She has also reached out to officials at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) seeking permission to have the second box installed at its emergency department. However, she is still waiting on approval for both applications.
“The hope is to help those people who are in need,” she said. “I know I have been caught a couple of times at the hospital and haven’t had some of the things I need. Sometimes you’re at the hospital for hours, so just your regular person might find themselves in need. As well as those without homes who find themselves needing staples of life.
“I chose the bus terminal because people are coming and going all the time and felt the books would go really well there as well. My hope is just to help the community and teach my daughter about giving back.”
Enright has already received several book donations and has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the purchase of the food pantry items.
Her intention is to reach out to the Barrie Food Bank to ensure the items she fills the Little Free Pantries with are what are most needed and have proven to be successful with the other pantries around town.
“On the side of the boxes it says 'Take what you need and give what you can' and I am really hoping people do take from it, but I’m also hoping the word spreads and people start to give back to the community," Enright said. "I feel like sometimes we don’t exactly know how to give back (and) this is a really tangible thing.
"Once they are installed, people can give actual items," she added. “I am hoping to inspire people to do stuff for their community and help my daughter understand that giving back to her community is really important.”
