Lafayette St Pantry

06/02/2026

The Lafayette Street Pantry will be closing at the end of this week.

After much thought and consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close the pantry for the next few months, and possibly permanently.

When we started the pantry, our goal was simple: to help our neighbors in times of need. Over the past six months, we know we have been able to make a difference for many families, and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community.

Unfortunately, during that time we have also experienced repeated challenges. Items have been stolen from our porch and other areas of our property. We have been subjected to verbal abuse when certain items were unavailable, when we set the hours of 8 am to 8 pm, and when we asked visitors to park along the road rather than block our driveway. We have also had people on our property at all hours of the night, creating disruptions for both our family and our neighbors.

While we know there are many good people who genuinely need assistance, the ongoing issues have made it increasingly difficult for us to continue operating the pantry from our home.

We hope to continue supporting those in need by donating many of the same items to the little pantry at Leah's House and encourage others to support the food pantries and assistance programs available throughout Jasper County.

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has donated, volunteered, shared information about the pantry, or helped sustain it over the past six months. Your generosity and kindness made this effort possible, and we are truly grateful.

Thank you for your understanding.

The Hartke Family

06/01/2026

Parking is available along the road, please do not park in or block our driveway.

04/28/2026

To better serve our community and ensure a more comfortable environment for us and our neighbors, pantry hours will now be limited to 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. We appreciate your understanding and support.

04/22/2026

Thank you to Newton IGA for their donation of bread, tortillas and many other items to our pantry!

04/19/2026

I feel like we make a lot of posts about what is and isn't appropriate and I'm sorry to those who read these and it doesn't apply to....

Please do not leave half or mostly used items as donations. If you have used personal hygiene products, especially ones that touch your skin, and don't like them please do not leave them for the pantry.

We do not have room for books, purses, toys, random containers you no longer want, or items that are not food or hygiene related. The Silk Purse takes donations of this kind and I'm sure would love to have yours.

Please do not bring used food items. It's a health and safety issue. Would you want to use something left over from a home you don't know?

Thank you.

04/17/2026

With spring and summer coming we have changed the layout a bit.

All items will be on the white table or the shelves. Any plants on the porch are NOT part of the pantry. They are our personal plants.

04/13/2026

Reminder:

All items for the pantry will be on the tables or shelves on the side of the porch.

Please remember this is also our home.

Please don’t go through boxes on our porch. Even if you think it might be donations, please leave it alone and we will set the items out when we can.

Please , please be respectful.

Additionally, please don’t leave your trash or cigarette butts on our porch or in our flower bed.

We would hate to have to stop doing this due to lack of respect for our property.

Thank you

04/09/2026

Thanks to two generous donors we were able to not only restock the pantry but also get some surplus items that will be put out as the table stock gets low!

04/07/2026

Wondering how you can help? The pantry could really use donations!!

- added note - we have had some people ask about donating money and if that is something you would rather do please contact us and we can arrange that! Thank you to those who have donated!

The most used items from the pantry include:

Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and Meatballs and Raviolli

Tuna in Water

Dollar Tree Shelf stable Box Milk (chocolate, whole and 2%) - usually found on the bottom shelf of one of the food aisles

Cereal - Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Ruler all have reasonably priced options for a few dollars

Shampoo
Conditioner
Deodorant
toothpaste
Cleaners
Body Wash
Just add water muffin mixes
Pancake Mix
Syrup
Jelly
Peanut Butter
past a roni or knorrs noodles
Baby Wipes - these are in VERY high demand
Adult wipes
butter
cheese
lunch meat
hot dogs
bread
Spam
canned soups
cooking oil
sugar
spices
Tampons and pads- if you buy a big box we are more than happy to break them down into smaller bundles just leave them on one of the white chairs and we will get them and break them down into bags

things that do not go fast
Vegetables
Mac and cheese
rice
beans
plain noodlesE

Send a message to learn more

04/06/2026

We are looking for information about the following resources in Jasper County

Food pantries
Drug and alcohol rehabilitation groups or programs
Housing assistance for homeless

And other information that might be handy for someone struggling or in need of help.