Most people are happy to donate to food pantries and drop necessary items but except for an annual food drive, they are really not aware of shortages of certain items at their local pantries. So how about if they received a fortnightly or a monthly email with the list of items needed? Given that food pantries are run by volunteers, they do not have the personnel to send out such emails on a regular basis. Some food pantries do have a website that lists their inventories but do people actually go and check the website before their next shopping list? Holliston High School freshman, Akshara Shankar, is on a mission to find some solutions.
Akshara has been working on her project, ‘ManyHands’ with the support of the MIT Leadership Training Institute’s mentorship program. Akshara has worked to design the website, contacted over 20 food pantries of which 11 have already registered on her site including the Holliston Pantry Shelf. She has received lists of the most essential items and is now working to get the community to sign up on her website to receive alerts about items required by food pantries. Holliston High School students, parents and teachers who would like to receive alerts about what your local pantry needs can sign up on www.manyhandsfoodpantry.com
