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Food donation drive planned after vandals trash Northside 'People's Pantry'

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CINCINNATI -- Some neighbors in Northside rely on the "People's Pantry" near Chase Elementary School for food, but the creator says vandals are trashing the items inside it.

There are different kinds of canned food inside the pantry. Their motto is simple: "Take what you need. Leave what you can." The pantry near Chase is one of 11 throughout Cincinnati.

Lisa Andrews said it's a special one.

"After school, students from a group called MORE" -- Men Organized, Respectful and Educated -- "actually rehabbed the box and painted it themselves," Andrews said.

People in the neighborhood donate and drop off nonperishable food items, then people that are in need can take whatever they want at any time.

But instead, Andrews said vandals wasted the food, throwing boxes of macaroni and cheese on the ground, dumping cans of green beans and corns and throwing cans around.

"Food is a resource, it's nothing to waste," Andrews said. "It's something we value and something we need, and to so something like that is just really low."

Urban Artifact brewery is right around the corner from the pantry. Management decided to step up and help replace the food by holding a donation drive on Friday.

"Our goal is to let more people know that it's there and to make sure it's stocked all the time," Scott Hand said.

The brewery will be offering $1 off the cost of a beer in exchange for a food item.

Andrews said they hope the event will help raise more awareness about the People's Pantry.