Hungry families, too proud or unable to get to a local food bank, are now getting some unexpected help in Hernando County.
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Every day, Megan Barr has to see if anything is missing.
"Each day, I come out here in the mornings and I restock if anyone has taken anything from the pantry," she said.
Barr has made the front yard of her Spring Hill home a haven for anyone who may be going hungry. She's installed a "little free pantry" which is part of a bigger movement to help bring food to hungry families all over America.
"I know that there's families out there that don't want to admit it but they need help like this and that's why we're doing this," she said.
There are now at least three little free pantries in Hernando County and more are being built now, Barr said.
Families can pull up at any time and quickly take what they need without having to go to a regular food bank. Homeowners and people in the neighborhood stock the small pantries with everything from canned goods, pasta, rice and popcorn to pet food and hygiene items.
"They don't have to say anything for us to know that they're thankful for it," Barr said.
"If you don't have food on your table, you feel like a failure," said Rachel Johnson, a Spring Hill woman who installed her own little free pantry.
She knows what it's like to go without. When she first moved to the area, she struggled to get on her feet despite working full-time.
"A church gave me a whole trunk full of groceries and I almost left there crying because I couldn't believe it," she said.
But now, she's in a much better place and wanted to give back with her own pantry.
"There's broccoli and rice. I've got popcorn in there," she said. "I like coming out and putting new things in. I like when I come out and I find things missing."
She knows that when things are missing, one more family has food who may have otherwise gone hungry.
