Wheeling girl creates tiny food pantry to help community

WHEELING, Illinois - Every year for her birthday, a Wheeling girl gives back to her community. This year, she used a little elbow grease to create a tiny pantry that’s already getting lots of visitors.  

"We were also touched by the fact that this is something she does every year, coming up with a kindness project in conjunction with her birthday," said Ryann Uden, the deputy director of the Indian Trails Public Library District.  

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We were there two years ago, when little Maya Schaab cooked up an idea to provide the local food pantry with "Birthday Boxes" complete with candles, instant cake mix and sprinkles. At the time, Schaab said she was donating the special boxes because "I hope kindness is contagious." 

The next year, Schaab hosted a crayon drive for patients at Advocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital. And now, her biggest, or, smallest project yet! For her 9th birthday, she and her dad built a little pantry that sits outside the Indian Trails Library.  It’s stocked with food and personal care items.

"It was a lot of work, but we got it done," said Schaab.  

 "When she came in to meet us for her first meeting, she brought her own project planner, and she brought a mockup of the little free pantry, so we knew she was serious about this," said Uden.    

"I read a book about food insecurity and it got me thinking what could I do to help people in my community and this popped into my head," added Schaab.   

She and her mom plan to keep the little pantry stocked for the next year, using donations from her GoFundMe page.  

"It just made me feel so happy that people who might not be able to afford items, they can come here and it will be one less thing for them to have to worry about," said Schaab with a smile. "I just love helping people."

If you’d like to help, check out Maya’s Go Fund Me page here: https://gofund.me/0ac4ab8c

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