Little blue pantries have been popping up all over Tompkins County. It's just the newest effort to make sure everyone has what they need during this pandemic.

“I just felt real excited about it and I felt real excited that my community that I live ... somewhere that they can feel not shamed for having to go to a food pantry," said Phoebe Brown, the president of Mutual Aid Tompkins.

It all started with a little free library that was transformed into a pantry. The photo was posted in the Facebook group Mutual Aid Tompkins.

That's when Juliana Garcia asked her carpenter friend if she could build something similar.

“She got to work immediately came up with like the first prototype, then Ms. Phoebe said to put it in my yard, so it kind of just like took off from there," said Juliana Garcia, with Mutual Aid Tompkins.

For $90, anyone can order a little blue pantry of their own.

“The difference with having the pods [little blue pantries] and not going to the [food] pantries, this is here all day, all evening, so people who work during the day, they can’t get to the food pantries," said Brown.

It’s up to the community to keep them fully stocked.

“For me, it's my lifeline. To get up in the morning, come out here, check what's gone, it's really heartwarming to come out and see people have left baby clothes and Pampers," said Brown.

The pantries are growing. There are almost 30 in the area. In a couple weeks, as many as 20 more will be added.

“Well, I will keep this out here. This has taught me that the way to create community is by having something that the community needs," said Brown. “I hear this we’re all in this together now. The reality is we’ve always been in this together; it's not just now.”