By Oct. 8, Sunny Lange’s small home produce stand had grown into a free pantry outside a State Farm office in the Green Bay area. The pantry is open around the clock, according to WFRV, and anyone can take food or leave a donation. The new location gives Lange’s Table of Plenty effort a place beyond her home garden and puts the food within reach at any hour.
Lange began by sharing extra vegetables from a community garden outside her home. WFRV reported that the stand grew as neighbors started contributing, but keeping it stocked became difficult. After Lange posted on TikTok about the challenge, local State Farm agent Becky Stephens contacted her and offered space outside the office at 2208 South Ridge Road. WFRV interviewed both women about the arrangement. The station identified the location as Ashwaubenon; State Farm’s official agent profile lists Stephens’s office in Green Bay, so the story uses the Green Bay area rather than choosing between the two labels.
The installation involved contributions from more than the host. WFRV said neighbors and local businesses donated materials, while grant funding covered the cost so the pantry could be installed without out-of-pocket construction expense. The report did not name the grant or state a total project budget. State Farm’s profile confirms Stephens’s role and office address, but the pantry details come from WFRV’s interviews, not the agent listing.
Access is central to the design. WFRV contrasted the pantry with food programs that operate on set hours and reported that the outdoor site is available at any time. Lange told the station that this can help people whose work shifts run late and those who may feel uncomfortable asking for assistance. She said people should not have to fill out paperwork to prove they need food. The report describes a self-service option that does not require visitors to arrange a meeting with Lange or arrive during an office appointment.
The project is part of a broader local landscape of food assistance. A 2024 summary from the Brown County Hunger Coalition says 22 county pantries distributed more than 674,000 pounds of food that year and estimates that one in 10 county residents experiences food insecurity annually. Those figures cover a network of pantries and the county as a whole; they are not a count of food or visitors at Lange’s new site. They offer context for why an additional, flexible option can matter without claiming that one pantry has changed countywide outcomes.
Brown County also has a community-gardening program administered through UW–Madison Extension. Its current page says the program provides residents garden space and logistical help to support access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food. It lists 13 gardens, 386 plots and more than 250 gardeners, and links to a Table of Plenty impact story. The page does not explain how that story relates to Lange’s home stand or the newly installed pantry, so the program’s totals should not be treated as pantry results.
Lange told WFRV she had given away “probably over 1,000 pounds” of food from her home stand during 2026. That is her estimate for the home operation, not a measured total from the new pantry. The station did not report how much food has moved through the new site since it was installed. Keeping those figures separate matters: the earlier stand explains how the effort began, while the pantry is a newer location with no published distribution count yet.
Lange hopes to expand the idea by finding more residents and businesses willing to host similar pantries. That remains a goal, not a confirmed rollout. The WFRV report did not give an exact installation or opening date, and it did not identify an expansion schedule. What it did document is a practical collaboration: one gardener asked for help keeping up with demand, a nearby business offered outdoor space, and other neighbors and businesses helped provide materials.
The pantry’s impact will be clearer if Lange or the host later shares details about how much food it distributes or how many additional sites open. For now, the confirmed milestone is that the free pantry was operating by Oct. 8 and was described as open to anyone who needs food or wants to contribute. Its round-the-clock access and donated materials give the project a concrete next step, while its longer-term reach remains something to measure rather than assume.
Reader responses