A bright red wooden box now stands just to the left of the main entrance at St. Luke’s in Mechanicsburg. It’s painted simply, filled with non-perishable goods, and unlocked at all hours — a humble offering with a powerful message: Take what you need, leave what you can.
The new Blessing Box, as parishioner Chris Sheely calls it, is St. Luke’s latest ministry to serve those facing food insecurity in Mechanicsburg.
“I’ve been donating to other local boxes for a few years,” Sheely said. “But it wasn’t until I joined a Facebook group where people post needs that I realized how serious the situation is. One woman said her kids were eating cereal for dinner and she had nothing for herself. That stopped me cold.”
Inspired to act, Sheely brought the idea of installing a Free Little Pantry to the church’s outreach committee last December, after first floating it with the Rev. Kate Harrigan. “Once everyone was on board,” she said, “we started moving forward.”
The box itself was built by Rev. Harrigan’s husband, Rev. Bill Alford, with installation help from Sheely’s husband Dave Sheely and fellow parishioner Adam Sheaffer. Rain and recovery from surgery delayed the project slightly, but last week, the three men poured concrete for the legs and set the box in place.
“We’re not talking about a big city here,” Sheely said. “But the need in our small town is still so great. The pantry closest to my house empties as fast as it’s filled. We have homeless residents, but we also have plenty of people who have homes — and still don’t have enough food.”
St. Luke’s secretary, Dee Fegan, frequently distributes Giant gift cards and frozen meals from the church’s freezer to those who stop by for help, and Mechanicsburg hosts a few other food pantries. But the Blessing Box offers something uniquely simple and anonymous: a chance for anyone to help or be helped, 24/7.
“I started stocking the box the same day it went up,” Sheely said. “I had asked the parish to bring in non-perishables a few weeks prior, and half of what we had was gone within 48 hours.”
Though most items currently come from parish donations, Sheely already sees signs that the wider community is pitching in. “Some of the food I see in there didn’t come from our indoor storage bin. That’s really encouraging.”
Sheely’s passion for this work comes from personal experience. As one of five children growing up in a teacher’s household, she remembers how thin things could get. Years later, she visited her sister’s homeless ministry in Georgia, helping to feed 20 to 40 people daily. “That was my first real experience with homelessness up close,” she said. “It changed me.”
Now, she hopes St. Luke’s Blessing Box will quietly change lives — no fanfare needed. “This is just something we do behind the scenes,” she said. “People don’t always realize how underserved our town is. I just don’t ever want to see that pantry empty.”
