One day while out walking with her then five-year-old grandson near the Hopewell, NJ post office, Susan Ferguson says they saw a tiny food pantry, a small, freestanding cabinet where people can leave food for those in need.
She says, “When we first used to go to that park in Hopewell he’d say, ‘Oh my gosh there’s crackers in there. Can I have them?’”
Ferguson explained to him, “‘This is for people that don’t have crackers at their house and they’re hungry and they can come here, and they can choose a couple of things to take to their house to help them make dinner.’”
Now, she says, her plan is to let him help by going “to the grocery store and have him choose some things…and put [them] on the [pantry] shelves so we really see that it’s not for us and that it’s going to go help somebody else.”
In Pennington, NJ a town with a population of less than 3,000, residents came together originally during the COVID-19 pandemic to create and stock two tiny food pantries and a mobile food pantry to address significant food insecurity in the area.
Food insecurity, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” The New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate similarly frames it using the United Nations’ definition: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.”
Joseph Lawver, director of the Hopewell Valley Mobile Food Pantry (HVMFP), says, “We originally thought we’d be up and running for maybe 90 days or a couple of months. Obviously, that didn’t happen.” He continues, “At first, we delivered to about 35 families. This week [February 12, 2025] we will serve 211 families.”
Hopewell Valley, which includes Hopewell Township, Pennington, and Hopewell Borough, spans approximately 58 square miles and fosters strong community connections among the three municipalities. HVMFP was created in March 2020 by the then-superintendent of Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD), Thomas Smith, Ph.D.
Lawver, who was mayor of Pennington at the time, says, “Tom called together the three mayors and we discussed how to get this up and running.”
One thing in particular prompted Lawver’s desire to collaborate.
He says, “I was concerned that the students enrolled in free and reduced school lunch programs would be further economically impacted by the COVID meltdown.”
HVMFP operates through three main services: home delivery, curbside grab-and-go pickup, and occasional walk-ins. It also collaborates with other food assistance programs, such as Ewing Helping Hands. The YMCA also offered its non-profit status and administrative resources. The pantry is housed in the administrative building of the school district.
Although the overall impact of the program is hard to measure, anecdotal evidence shows there were immediate results. Local resident Alice Connolly, who was homebound during COVID, says she relied on HVMFP for fresh food.
“My nails become much stronger from eating nutritious vegetables like Swiss chard,” she says, adding that she shared her weekly portion with three neighbors. Now that things have gotten easier post-pandemic, she says she regularly donates to the pantry.
Another person who benefitted was a 95-year-old World War II veteran who was hospitalized after contracting COVID.
Lawver says, “He checked into the hospital and nobody ever expected to see him again…COVID was pretty much a death sentence at that point.”
But the man pulled through. Lawver says, “He came back home from the hospital four weeks later. And his family attributed his rebound to the improved diet of fresh fruits and vegetables we had provided him for the two years leading up to his COVID.”
HVMFP now serves an average of 225 families per week—approximately 150 deliveries and 75 grab-and-go pickups.
How these numbers compare to overall food insecurity in Pennington is unclear. The pantry provides food to the Hopewell community without requiring proof of need, while the Trenton Health Team’s 2022 Food Insecurity Index estimated 387 individuals and 171 households in Pennington were food insecure. Equally important is the knowledge that these figures may be underestimations due to factors such as recall bias, social desirability bias, survey design limitations, and underrepresentation of vulnerable populations.
Looking ahead, food insecurity could worsen if proposed cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and Social Security take effect. Lawver predicts, “We might see in 2025 and 2026 a 50% increase in our client base if cuts go through. We could easily be serving 300 or 350 families by the end of the year.”
To meet this demand, HVMFP plans to develop a strategic plan, expand its social media presence, strengthen financial practices, and improve communication with stakeholders.
One of the tiny pantries, located near the HVMFP building, was installed by Troop 41 Eagle Scout Todd M. McCoy. A plaque above its glass door bears the motto: “Take what you need, leave what you can.”
The second tiny pantry, called the “Tiny Purple Pantry,” is located in Pennington’s historic district. It was donated in 2021 by Lindsay Manolakos, who collaborated with Pennington Presbyterian Church to place it at a central intersection.
Reverend Mikoski of the Presbyterian Church says, “We all need food every single day,” adding, “When people need food from a food pantry or from the Little Purple Pantry it reminds me of how blessed I am not to have to worry about where my next meal is coming from.”
Hope Anderson, director of Pennington Presbyterian Nursery School, and her kindergarten students help restock the Tiny Purple Pantry, using it as an opportunity to teach both community responsibility and math skills.
Reverend Mikoski recalled one child noticing that the pantry had peanut butter but no jelly and suggesting they bring some the next day.
Manolakos says, over time, she has received inquiries from as far as Seattle about starting similar projects. She says she wants to collaborate with a designer to create a simple self-assembly kit or blueprint for others to follow.
“The idea is to help communities help themselves,” Manolakos says.
HVMFP will host an open house on April 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
