CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The giving season is here, especially at the Cape Coral Community Fridge and pantry. It's been helping people in our community for nearly five years.
"People were losing their jobs and didn't have employment and didn't have any food, we started the community fridge so that nobody would go hungry," said Dionne Lopez, owner of Lee County Plumbing and creator of the community pantry.
Lopez says she knows what it's like to be hungry, so she started the 24-hour food pantry to give back.
"It's snowballed throughout the years, and people have been spreading the word, and the communities actually stepped up to help me, you know, keep it stocked," said Lopez.
Over the years, she says people have taken advantage of the community's kindness.
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"We have cameras strategically placed," said Lopez. "If they are abusing. I try to be nice about it and say, 'Hey, listen, you know, let's leave some for everybody because you got to remember before you got here, somebody else was here and they left for you.'"
However, Lopez says it hasn't kept people from restocking the pantry, including Dave Sterchi, who Fox 4's Bella Line met while he was donating to the pantry.
"There's always going to be some people that will do that, but we get big quantities of bags instead of having a huge bag for one person to take we kind of divvied up a little sandwich size base just have like individual meals and stuff so people won't be inclined to take big things," said Sterchi.
Lopez says she sees people take food from the pantry nearly every hour.
"They'll stick their head inside and say, 'Hey, thanks. I'm going to have a meal tonight because of you.'"
But, she says she couldn't do it without the community's help.
"There's nothing better of a feeling of when you give something to somebody and you don't ask for anything back, and I think that's lost in these last, you know, few years," said Lopez.
Behind Lee County Plumbing, the food pantry is open 24/7.
