12/27/2025
Important Porch Pantry Update – Please Read
I want to address some serious issues that have been taking place with the Porch Pantry.
Running a small business is already a full-time job. Adding the pantry has been a labor of love, but it has also required an enormous amount of time, energy, and constant attention. Kyla and I give everything we have to keep this mission going, and it has become clear that some boundaries must be stated plainly.
Since the beginning of the pantry, we have dealt with repeated and intentional abuse of this resource. One individual was consistently emptying the pantry at night despite being asked multiple times to stop and to leave food for others. This behavior continued daily. Last Sunday, the situation escalated to the point that the LaGrange Police Department had to be involved, and this individual has been criminally trespassed from the property.
I have since learned that food taken from this pantry was being sold to other unhoused individuals in our community.
Let me be absolutely clear:
This pantry exists to help people through a hard moment—not to be exploited, resold, or stripped of resources meant for children, families, and neighbors in genuine need. That behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Any abuse of this pantry will be stopped.
Any theft from this pantry will be prosecuted.
This business is private property, and that fact will not be forgotten.
The Porch Pantry is a blessing because our community respects it. The moment it is abused, it threatens the ability for us to keep it open at all. I believe deeply in compassion, but I also believe in discipline and accountability, and both will be practiced at 212 Hill Street.
We will continue to help our community, but it will be done with clear rules and firm boundaries to protect the people this pantry is truly meant to serve.
Thank you to those who respect this space, this mission, and the work behind it.
— Hannah