Westhampton Beach High School Students Unveil Little Free Pantry

Anyone who is struggling to pay for food, soap, toothpaste or other necessities can now stop on Mill Road in Westhampton Beach Village to take what they need — no questions asked.

Village officials joined two rising juniors from Westhampton Beach High School on Thursday, July 16, to ceremoniously cut the ribbon on the new Little Free Pantry that the students worked to establish. Sited on village property on the west side of Mill Road across from Woodland Avenue, the pantry is unmanned and available 24/7 for donation drop-offs and for people in need to take something they can use.

The students, Fainne Sheehan,15, of Westhampton and Alie Fitt, 16, of Quiogue said they learned about other successful Little Free Pantries on the East End and wanted to bring one to their community.

Penelope Rudder dedicated the East End’s first Little Free Pantry in Greenport in 2018, and Michael Daly established one at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton in 2019.

With guidance from Ms. Rudder and Mr. Daly and help from Mr. Daly’s sister, Westhampton resident Eleanor Daly Kobel, the girls won approval for Westhampton Beach’s pantry.

“We thought now — because of the COVID-19 outbreak — is such a great time because food is really needed in our community,” Fainne said.

They are also asking for donations of hygiene products and school supplies to be dropped off at the pantry, in addition to nonperishable food items.

Alie noted that they previously had experience conducting food drives through school music programs before Fainne got her involved in the Little Free Pantry idea.

“We would do a program called Concert Cans, where every time we had a school concert, people would leave nonperishables, and we’d bring it to a local food pantry,” Alie said.

Alie, who wants to work in the music industry, plays harp and oboe, primarily, and sings, and Fainne, who plans to become a lawyer, plays flute, piccolo and piano and is a chamber choir member.

The pair had been pursuing the pantry for months before the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the need. They began working on the idea in October 2019 and asked the Kiwanis of Greater Westhampton and the Village of Westhampton Beach for their support.

In June, they formally presented the idea for the Westhampton Beach Village Board during a Zoom meeting, and got the green light.

Gathering examples of Little Free Pantries from around the country, they presented ideas to the builder hired by Fainne’s family, Lafata and Lumber Construction. The builder created a box with glass cabinet doors and a pitched shingled roof, mounted on a single four-by-four.

Sophie Cline, who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School this year, painted the box with floral designs and the phrase, “Take what you need, leave what you can.”

“We do have a pantry, and the pantry is fabulous, but it’s only open every other week for an hour and a half,” Ms. Kobel said to the small, masked crowd there for the Little Free Pantry ribbon-cutting. “We have a bigger need than that for right now, especially in COVID times.”