Pantry helps grow community

DEANS Marsh has fostered a sense of community during the coronavirus lockdown by sharing their fresh produce and providing for those who may be lacking.

Set up by the Grow Make Gather team, the Deans Marsh Grow Free Pantry operates on the simple principle of “give what you can, take what you need”.

Located at Deans Marsh Community Cottage, people are encouraged to give fresh food they have grown, made or gathered.

Penelope Kwan and Sian Richards founded Grow Make Gather, which organises educational workshops and community events around local food and sustainability.

Ms Richards said the coronavirus motivated them to act on the idea of the pantry.

“We’d already been thinking about it in terms of local food security and connecting people around food in the Deans Marsh area, but then when all of the COVID stuff happened it just seemed like the perfect time.

“There’s lots of growers in our area, people with eggs and veg and abundance. So it kind of makes sense to have a centralised area where people could bring their leftover stuff and for everyone to be able to share it.”

The community has seemed to agree on this, as Ms Richards said the pantry has been well-used since it opened.

“It’s been huge, above and beyond what we expected. There’s been over 100 people participating for sure.

“I go there every few days to make sure there’s nothing old in there or anything mouldy, and there never is, everything is always gone and there is new stuff in there.”

Grow Make Gather has created a Facebook page for people to let each other know what they have left and share recipes.

Ms Richards said she was delighted the pantry has helped people connect during lockdown.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback that it’s been a sense of community for people connecting with other people.

“The sense of community during this time of isolation has ended up being, I think, becoming a bigger part of it.”

People can stay up to date with Grow Make Gather’s latest activities through their Facebook and Instagram pages.