Micro Food Pantry

1 out of every 9 Medford residents struggles with food insecurity. What that means is that 1 out of every 9 of our neighbors is forced to choose between purchasing food and paying for other essentials such as rent, bills, and medication.

To help meet this need, our micro food pantry (located in front our building at 144 North Street in Medford) is open 24/7 for anyone to give or receive a donation of food.

What began as a simple expression of Hillside Community Church’s commitment to loving our neighbor in tangible ways has become a citywide movement. There are now 17 micro food pantries installed around the City of Medford.

Our Micro Pantry Story

At Hillside Community Church, we believe that God calls us to love our neighbors in real, tangible ways. So when one of our members came across the Little Free Pantry movement and their “Give what you can, Take what you need” ethos, we immediately knew that it would be a small but meaningful way to begin addressing food insecurity in our neighborhood.

We ordered a pre-made pantry off of Etsy (not knowing that it was being shipped from Ukraine and would take months to arrive nor that it would arrive in a box so large that it would require a truck to pick up!), painted it “Hillside Blue,” installed it in front of our building, and flyered the neighborhood to let everyone know about the resource.

While it looks like one of those Little Free Libraries you’ll find scattered all over Greater Boston, our micro food pantry is filled with nonperishable food items.