A free community food pantry that had been set up outside a market in East Los Angeles now has a new home in Boyle Heights, thanks to community members who rallied to keep it going.
Created by East LA native Rebecca Gonzales, the pantry had been stationed outside of Ramirez Meat Market on the corner of Folsom Street and Rowan Avenue since November, offering produce, snacks and shelf-stable items. Gonzales created the resource after seeing how ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and SNAP delays were affecting the most vulnerable in her community.
A few days after Boyle Heights Beat published an article about the pantry, the market’s owner asked Gonzales to move it.
Rosa Ramirez, who has owned Ramirez Meat Market for 26 years, said she hadn’t expected the pantry to be permanent and noticed that fewer people were coming into her store when the pantry was stocked. Ramirez appreciated Gonzales’ intentions, but said the piles of donated clothes and shoes next to the pantry were difficult to manage.
Soon after learning the pantry would have to move, Gonzales posted the news on Instagram. Within an hour, she received about a dozen messages from friends and community members reaching out to help.
“I was worried that I was gonna have to just bring it home and it’s gonna be a lapse of services,” Gonzales said.
That same day, Yvonne I. Monje Perez, owner of SuperNova Thrift — a shop near Mariachi Plaza that sells second-hand clothing — reached out. Though she had never met Gonzales, Perez didn’t think twice about offering help.
“We could benefit from something like that here in this neighborhood,” Perez recalled thinking after seeing the post.
With coordination from Gonzales and guidance from the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, Perez and her husband picked up the pantry last Friday and it was open for the community the following day.
“It makes me so happy seeing people come to it and look at it, and just take from it,” said Perez. “It’s been received very well, a lot of people are very happy about it.”
How you can help
Donations of canned goods and other non-perishable items can be dropped off at the pantry located outside SuperNova Thrift, 1852 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90033.
Now, Perez and Gonzales have a schedule for opening and closing the pantry, and donations have continued to roll in.
While Gonzales does not keep track of how many donations come in every day, she noticed items usually remain at the end of the day, a change from when the pantry would go empty in East LA.
Looking ahead, Gonzales hopes to inspire others to start free food pantries in their own communities.
“People want to help,” she said. “People want to do good things. People want to see other people not just survive, but thrive.”
