The Pantry at Roots Church can only be described as a community collaboration. We carry on the legacy of feeding neighbors that happened on the property before Roots took over the building. The former food pantry closed before Roots arrived and neighbors kept asking if we were going to re-open. As a new, small, young church we knew that we couldn’t do it on our own, so we put a simple ask out on the RP Neighbors Facebook Group: would anyone like to help us start it again? Our asks were simple: 1) it would be a client-choice pantry; 2) we would serve folks who live or work in Roeland Park; and 3) any volunteers would need to be cool with our young LGBTQ & BIPOC-centered church. TWENTY-FOUR people showed up to the first interest meeting—20 neighbors and 4 from Roots. From there, we have received help from incredible partners like the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and Lowe’s, we’ve organized, and we’ve dreamed our way toward an October launch!