Small pantry, big hearts

It started with two small wooden cabinets, each with glass doors showing what waited inside. Eight months ago Denny and Barbie Worswick created a food pantry at the Chuluota Grocery store, off of 7th Street, starting with those $40 cabinets sitting outside.  

“We’ve been looking for a long time to do something charitable,” Denny said.

Since the Worswicks first placed the furniture outside of the store, the cabinets have been filled with non-perishable items on a daily basis. The pantry, open 24 hours a day, can be stocked and used at any time. 

Barbie said the idea sparked when she saw other pantries on Pinterest. “We decided it was time that our town had one,” she said. 

Denny and Barbie put the word out on the Chuluota Facebook page to spread awareness, and shortly after people started donating items and money. Barbie said around $400 has been donated in person at the store.

Because David Diab, the store’s owner, was generous enough to allow the service at his storefront, Chuluota Grocery is the pantry’s home that brings the community together. The store’s overhang roof was also ideal to shade the food from the sun. 

Diab said, “Everything we’ve ever done in the past 30 years has been community based.” He said that is why when Barbie approached him about the pantry he said it was a “fantastic” idea. 

Diab said even before the project was added, he wouldn’t turn away a hungry customer who didn’t have money. However, he said the pantry allows customers the chance to take the food and cook it at home.

“I was all for it from day one and I supported them through the whole process,” he said. 

There is a substantial volume of products being continuously restocked and word keeps spreading about it, Diab said. He said, for the store members, there is no motive other than a desire to support their neighbors.

“A handful of people came in and told me, ‘Dave, that was probably the best thing you’ve ever done,’” Diab said. “It wasn’t me. I don’t take credit. Barbie came up with the idea. I just supported.” 

Julia Youssef, a Chuluota Grocery employee, said that people have approached her during her shift to tell her how helpful the pantry has been to them. She said it has been a big aid to people struggling with inflation. 

“This store is mainly about family,” Youssef said. “ It’s always the same people we see every day and we talk to the same people every single day, and we know how hard it is and they tell us their stories.” 

A Chuluota resident named Stevie, who asked to only be identified by his first name, said he discovered the pantry a few months ago when he visited the store and now stops by once a week to grab products. 

“It’s putting food in the belly,” Stevie said. Canned meat being his regular go-to. 

He said he’s seen himself how the service has helped out several people. “In my eyes it keeps many people from stealing from the local stores,” Stevie said. He has spread awareness of the project to friends and family who now also gain from it, he says. 

Barbie prepays for refrigerated goods inside of the store with the money donated by customers. As those products can’t be stored in the outdoor pantry, she writes the item names on index cards and pins them up on the side of the pantry. Once the card is brought to the store counter the item can be redeemed. 

“Whenever they walk in here with a card and they go and grab the things that they need it really puts a smile on their face, and it’s really nice to look at,” Youssef said. 

Denny and Barbie make a trip to the pantry every day to ensure it’s filled and tended to. Barbie regularly makes and replaces the hand written pantry cards as they tend to go quickly. 

“Whenever Barbie comes in and fills it up, by the end of the shift when I clock out almost everything is gone already, so a lot of people really use it,” Youssef said. 

Some store products offered include eggs, milk, deli meat, bacon, and hot dogs. In the pantry outside, Campbell’s soup, Mott’s fruit snacks, Kraft Mac and Cheese, granola bars, potatoes and more are available. 

Donations are occasionally handed directly to Barbie. “Which is amazing that they are so trusting,” Barbie said.

She said she never intends to waste a penny of the fundraised money. 

“I’ve been fortunate enough to never be hungry, or have to be hungry,” Barbie said. “I’ve never had to be food insecure and never want to be food insecure, and it just worries me, for children especially.” 

Beyond the daily effort, a special holiday food drive was organized during this past Thanksgiving where multiple meals were made into baskets and set out. 

Barbie said they told the community what items were on their list and they were brought enough food to make 15 baskets. The meals went fast after being placed on the store counter to take.  

Diab said the baskets contained gift cards, such as credit to shop at Publix, inside. 

The Worswicks still hope to add more services and options to the pantry. Barbie said an employee from a local barbeque restaurant mentioned offering prepaid meals for a sit down dinner. They hope to get other establishments, such as a barber shop, involved as well. 

Diab said he hopes the pantry will be around for a long time and he wants to keep it going. 

“It’s been great for us, I mean, really it makes us feel well,” Diab said. “It’s not all about money, it’s not about the business, it’s all about being part of the community. We always find a need and we try to fill the need.”  

He said the store and community keeps expanding it and Diab can’t wait to see how far it will go. 

“We are reaching a lot of people in this little magical thing because it just kind of produces its own love,” Barbie said. “It just produces its own magic, I swear, people come all the time and bring stuff.” 

Interested in donating to this pantry? Text Barbie at 407-748-6303 for more information.