The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

A Free Little Food Pantry has been placed next to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Altamont in the parking lot at 140 Maple Ave. “If you feel you can use an item in the Free Little Pantry, you are welcome to take it,” says the church’s pastor, Eric Reimer. “If you have an item that you feel others could use, you are welcome to place it in the pantry.” The pantry is now stocked with non-perishable foods like rice and canned soups and with paper products like toilet tissue. Reimer said, while he wasn’t in any way criticizing the Altamont Community Food Pantry or the Guilderland Food Pantry, there is no way they can offer 24-hour access. Also, people who need food can now get it without making themselves known, he said, explaining that he had worked at a parish before that ran a food pantry but some patrons disclosed after they trusted him that they could have used the food earlier but hesitated to make their need known. With the Free Little Food Pantry, Reimer said, “No one will know if you are dropping food off or picking food up.”