The sky above North Hill’s Zion Apostolic Church couldn’t decide whether to spit out rain in bursts or command the sweltering heat of the sun. But Maiharriese McDonald’s conviction is ever sure.
As she tended to a humble wooden box nestled in the gravel parking lot beside North Howard Street, she fingered the bolt latch open, then moved goods from the trunk of her car to the inside of the box.
A bottle of shampoo and a jug of detergent took their places among pop-tab cans of soup, boxes of cereal and packs of macaroni and cheese, all free for needy people to take.
McDonald was filling what’s known as a Blessing Box — number 50 in an area network of 64 — and Akron’s very first at 10 W. Tallmadge Ave. The Stark Blessing Box Initiative is McDonald’s brainchild; she’s served as president and CEO since she founded the project seven years ago.
All of the boxes are outside and unlocked so that they can be accessed by anyone at all hours, McDonald said. She deliberately erected the Akron box near a bus stop so it would be easily accessible.
“Say you’ve got someone living in their car; I know all about that,” McDonald said. “They’d be riding around at 2 in the morning and need something to eat before work the next day. It’s things like that.”
‘There’s real people who need this’
The boxes have seen exponential growth. McDonald said that more than half of the 64 boxes currently in operation popped up in the past 14 months. They’re located as far south as Sandy Valley School District near Magnolia, where Stark, Carroll and Tuscarawas counties abut.
McDonald said there’s always more to give and always farther to go.
“There’s real people who need this, and other people who’ll see it and think, ‘I can give something to this,’” she said. “We’ve become more of a real resource than just a commodity, and a lot of that word of mouth comes from community service.”
The idea was born from a time when McDonald was in a place of need herself. She said she struggled to qualify for food stamps and would be turned away until she dipped below a certain net worth threshold. To get there, she had to do things like cash her children’s savings bonds or sell her old car, things she couldn’t really afford to do.
“I would’ve had to do all those things just to — maybe in six months — get some assistance,” she said. “I felt like they turned me into a number.”
So she sought to cut the bureaucratic red tape and embarrassment that can accompany someone asking for help. At the heart of it all for McDonald is a desire to build, foster and nurture a stronger community.
“It’s really an empowerment thing,” McDonald said. “It can really build community when people see someone using or filling the box. It becomes, ‘Oh, we’re working together.’”
That working together starts as early as the building of the receptacle to fill. McDonald said the first boxes were constructed by students at North Canton Hoover High School and are still being used in North Canton.
Akron’s box was constructed by students from Louisville City Schools.
“We’ve had too much in our lifetimes that separates us, whether it’s gender, culture, color, financial status,” McDonald said. “This way, it doesn’t matter who or where you are; you can give back or you can get something you need.”
