OUR STEWARD
Embracing Outward Looking Love
Our Pantry was founded by Seymour native Jenny Rice, along with the help and support of her husband, Adam, and two young children.
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Jenny became engaged in community service as a teen, first volunteering with Seymour Ambulance as an EMT, and then moving into nonprofit work as a board member for CT-ALIVE (The Connecticut Alliance for Victims of Violence and Their Families) for several years before taking the leap into stewardship.
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As a medical provider who has done a significant amount of coursework on the effects of nutrition on mental health and overall function, and as an empathic human who knows first hand what it is like to grow up not only feeling hungry, but also unworthy due to being poor, Jenny was acutely aware of the short and long term effects of food insecurity on growth and development.
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She ultimately was motivated to build the Little Free Pantry on Skokorat in response to the COVID-19 pandemic after taking a free online Permaculture class offered by Heather JoFlores and viewing a news clip about The Little Free Pantry on Church in Ansonia CT.
Since opening the Pantry, Jenny has been a vocal advocate for increasing access to healthy food options and ending the stigma associated with food insecurity. She is currently co-leading a local organizing effort called All In for Seymour which is helping to ensure that every neighbor has a safe, affordable place to live, access to healthy food, and the information and opportunity to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives.
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You can read more about All In for Seymour here.