MAUMEE, Ohio — What began as a simple wooden box of children’s books outside Fort Miami Elementary School has quietly become something far more urgent: a lifeline for families facing food insecurity.
The small structure, originally a free little library dedicated to a retired teacher whose son had passed away, was repurposed this fall as concerns grew within the community about changes to SNAP benefits.
In late October, a social worker with the Maumee Police Department asked Principal Jim Amspoker whether the school might consider turning the book box into a food pantry…