The Westhampton Free Library is pleased to announce the installation of a Little Free Food Pantry adjacent to the Library parking lot. The Little Free Food Pantry allows those with food insecurity to anonymously take non-perishable items and allows those with means to leave food items to help fellow community members.

The pantry was designed and built by Westhampton resident and substitute Library Page Ari Schneider, age 14. Ari first built the Little Free Food Pantry at the time of his bar mitzvah as a means of helping the community surrounding his synagogue. When that location proved untenable, he decided to donate the pantry to the Westhampton Free Library.

“The Hamptons has a reputation of being a place of great wealth, but being a full-time resident here, I see that there are many people in my community who don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Ari said. “I hope that this Little Free Food Pantry serves as a community resource to allow people to leave food for their neighbors who might need it.” Ari is a member of Westhampton Beach High School’s Key Club and is working with his fellow students to organize food drives. In addition to those organized donations, community members are free to drop food at the box whenever they want. “With the Little Free Food Pantry, no one has to feel embarrassed about needing some extra help,” Ari said. “Come by the library 24 hours a day to take what you need. Perhaps in the future if you have some extra, you can leave food for the next person. We can all work together to make Westhampton hunger free.”

For more information about Little Free Food Pantries, visit www.littlefreepantry.org.