City asks group helping food-insecure neighbors to remove mini pantries on city property; they start a petition

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The group calling itself MapleGOOD, started to help food-insecure residents of Maplewood during the pandemic, is being asked by the city to removed three of the mini-food and hygiene pantries they stock around the city.

The pantries were discussed at a recent city council meeting and council members were concerned about liability to the city.

MapleGOOD started a petition to tell the city the pantries should stay. Sign the petition here. The deadline to sign is 1 p.m. Aug. 10.

MapleGOOD posted this on Facebook:

We have come together over the past five months to ensure EIGHT mini-food and hygiene pantries are stocked so that our food-insecure neighbors have consistent access to food and hygiene items. It has been an amazing community effort!

As some of you are aware, the mini-pantries were brought up at the last Maplewood City Council meeting. MapleGOOD is being asked by the City of Maplewood to remove the three mini-pantries on city property (Sutton Park, Kellogg Park Community Garden, and Manchester @ Yale), but because these locations were strategically chosen to reach our most vulnerable citizens, we believe that instead of removing them, we can work with the city to address their concerns while maintaining these mini-pantries in their current locations.

Read MapleGOOD’s open letter to the City of Maplewood regarding mini-pantries here: https://forms.gle/6NyoDhUzdVjRr6K36

One of the mini-food pantries stocked by MapleGOOD, this one at Sutton Loop Park. photo via MapleGOOD.