Rigby teen creates ‘Little Free Pantry’ to help her community

RIGBY — A 14-year-old girl is helping those in her community who need a little extra food by providing a free pantry.

K’breean Weight attends Rigby High School and just finished her freshman year. She created the “Little Free Pantry” as part of her senior project.

The Little Free Pantry is a repurposed newspaper box filled with non-perishable food items inside.

“I decided to focus on the problem of food poverty and so I was thinking of a couple of different ways I could make a difference in the community. I have had this idea of a mini food pantry since elementary school and I just kind of took that project as an opportunity to follow through with that idea,” K’breean said.

As part of her senior project — which she had the option as a freshman to finish it early — she installed a new shelf inside the newspaper box and painted it. She put over 20 hours into the project including asking questions at the Giving Cupboard and doing research.

The way the Little Free Pantry works is simple.

“It’s ‘take what you need, leave what you can’ so that those who are in need of a little extra can have a little supply and those who want to donate and have things that they can donate, can just leave what they have there,” she said.

Any non-perishable foods like canned soup, beans, macaroni and cereal can go inside the pantry for donations.

The pantry has been out for about two weeks now and is located in front of the Rigby City Building. She hopes to have it out for a while.

“I am planning on having it out there all throughout high school and then once I am getting ready to graduate, I am going to revisit the idea and see how it’s going and if it’s going great, then I am planning on keeping it out there long term,” she said.

K’breean explained she has always liked to do charity work, even when she was little.

“I used to have lemonade stands and I would donate the money to charities even though it wasn’t much!” she said laughing. “I thought I was making a big difference in the community!”

There has been positive feedback for the Little Free Pantry in the community and people have told her they love it.

She said a girl in Idaho Falls has already reached out to her and wants to do something similar in her community.

“I am glad that I have done this project because I want to inspire others and maybe even inspire myself in the future looking back on this to just do something small because the small things can make a big difference in our community,” she said.