Kaitlyn Starcher knows the hallways of Stout Field Elementary School by heart.

Her father walked them, as did her brother. She, too, learned from the teachers within them, and now her own children do the same, making the elementary school in Wayne Township something closer to a family institution than a public building.

“It’s a very family building for most of the neighborhood,” Starcher said.

That multigenerational bond has made Starcher more than a school parent, it motivated her to become a volunteer at the school’s bi-monthly food pantry distributions.

In that role, she has found herself completing a circle she didn’t know needed closing. When Starcher was a child growing up in the same neighborhood, food insecurity was a quiet but constant presence.

Oftentimes, families had to make their way to the Gleaners distribution site off Kentucky Avenue — a trip she said unfortunately carried the weight of being seen and of being a stranger in a line of strangers.

“Whenever I was younger, we’d go to Gleaners, and it’d be strangers. So, you kind of look and are nervous as you’re going through,” Starcher said.

At the Stout Field pantry, that stigma and nervousness around seeking assistance doesn’t exist.

“We make it more of like a family thing than a pantry thing,” she said. “It’s a pantry, but it’s, ‘Hey, come join the pantry tonight. Come see what new things we have.’ We make it more exciting.”

This distinction — support obtained among familiar faces versus strangers — matters enormously.

As food insecurity has grown in Indiana, so has Gleaners’ and other partners’ commitment to meeting people where they are at. It is a commitment that helps sustain and provide support to hundreds of pantries, like the one at Stout Field, which neighbors can access in their own communities.

The pantry at Stout Field, housed inside the K-6 elementary school where children spend a majority of their formative years, already feels safe. Safe locations are crucial in quietly dissolving the barrier of getting neighbors assistance and support they deserve.

Starcher’s own children help set up the pantry on distribution days. The can connect with other classmates there, or arrive at school buzzing with something to talk about.

“It gives the kids something else to connect with as well,” Starcher said.

She noted that for many children, the treats that come through the pantry, like popcorn, beef sticks, snack items that fall outside a typical grocery budget, are novel. When those items appear on the shelves, kids light up.

Meanwhile, parents delight in fresh, seasonal produce that is available.

“It’s not a normal thing in their diet,” she said. “So, they get excited for it.”

The geography of the neighborhood adds another layer of importance to having resources on school grounds. With only two full grocery stores serving the broader area, and some families without reliable transportation, the pantry’s location within walking distance of the neighborhood can be a lifeline.

Starcher said she volunteers out of a desire to give back to a place that shaped her, and to be part of a support system she wishes had existed when she was young.

“We’re all in the same boat, but none of us are struggling alone. We’re helping lift each other,” Starcher said.