CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local teen is making sure families don’t go hungry by setting up free grab-and-go food pantries around her neighborhood.
“It’s filled with non-perishables, personal items paper goods school supplies,” Alexandria Brown said.
Alexandria Brown is a rising junior at Myers Park High School.
This summer, she’s creating little food pantries like the one on 220 Fannie Circle around the Grier Heights neighborhood to help feed families for free.
“We’re in the process of making two more and we're putting them at the Grier Heights Community Center and on Marvin Road,” Brown said.
Brown said the idea came to her after her local Girls Scout group was challenged to spend 80 hours this summer making a difference in their communities.
After seeing the negative impacts of COVID19, providing different areas for people to grab food at no cost was top of mind.
“I’m originally from DC and they have a lot of corner stores there but here I didn’t see as much so I thought of making a resemblance, like a mini corner store feel,” Brown said.
So far, Brown has been getting an overwhelming response.
Dozens of goods stuffed in trash bags are now blocking a portion of her family’s garage, all thanks to the community.
“People have been coming from South Carolina and telling me that they thought this was amazing that I did this,” Brown said.
But as more and more items come in she’s hoping just as many people in need come get what they need.
Along with a little reassurance that somebody cares.
“Definitely think that this could make a change to somebody, even if you’re not in need anybody can take and give it to somebody that they know,” Brown said.