Driving down Lower Sacramento Road heading into Stockton, you’ll pass by Christ Lutheran Church in Lodi. Outside is a bright yellow little library, but inside, you won’t find any books.<\/p>\n
“We’re changing our little library into a little food pantry,” Christ Lutheran Church’s pastor’s wife, Calista Leistekow, shared.<\/p>\n
She said this library has been at the church for as long as she could remember.<\/p>\n
After seeing a news story on somebody else transforming their little library into a food pantry, she thought, “Why not do the same here?”<\/p>\n
“I’ve been seeing locally online, there’s a lot of people that are hurting,” Leistekow explained. “We’re getting into the holiday season and I just thought, like, this is something small that we can do that will make a big impact for somebody.”<\/p>\n
It works like any other little library, but instead of books, it’s food. All you have to do is take what you need and leave what you can.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been trying to do weekly posts, taking a pictures, and just through those posts, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s staying full,'” she said. “We’re giving what we can give but also seeing a couple cars stopping by every day, people taking, people giving. It’s just amazing to see the community step up for the people who need it the most.”<\/p>\n
They’re not the only ones who jumped on the idea.<\/p>\n
Dr. Charles Eperson lives just 10 minutes from the church. As a social worker, he sees the impact food insecurity every day.<\/p>\n
“Things are going on in the world right now where people are not getting enough food,” Eperson said. “There’s a lot of programs that have been cut or have been reduced so we thought, let’s go ahead and put food in there and see how it goes.”<\/p>\n
But when the going gets tough, Lodi gets going.<\/p>\n
“The motto of our family is, ‘The greatest deed you can do for humanity is to serve others,'” Eperson shared. “That’s what really spurred this on and really made us want to do this and be involved with others.”<\/p>\n
“It seems small but it makes a big difference to someone who’s in need during this time of year. Thank you, thank you for the Lodi community for showing up,” Leistekow said.<\/p>\n
The church says they’ll have their food pantry running throughout the holiday season and may continue throughout next year.<\/p>\n