Linking Indy Women Presents: Risk, Vulnerability, & #pantrymagic

GUEST SPEAKER: Michelle Waugh Dahl, Founder, Michelle’s Little Free Pantry

Michelle is a lifelong Franklin resident. She would be an empty nester today, but she expanded her brood of 3 to 5 with an 11 year span between the “bigs” and “littles”. Her kids are 25, 22, 21, 9, d 8. She is a community volunteer, advocate, and political activist who also focuses her time on eliminating food insecurity in Johnson County. From the experience as the Founder of Michelle’s Little Free Pantry, Inc., she has learned and grown in ways she never could have foreseen. The pantry has grown from a small cupboard in her driveway to 2 locations in Johnson County with the addition of a community garden. She primarily serves Johnson County, but through amazing collaboration with other organizations and community members, the Pantry can extend its assistance to the outskirts of the county. The community participation is the magic of the operation. It has been coined: #pantrymagic. However, Michelle does not run this operation by herself. Her partner is Christina Nelson-Canfield. She joined Michelle in 2019 and put a pantry outside of her Greenwood home. Michelle has worked to better her community over the years by serving her community in a multi-faceted way. She served on the Johnson County Local Food Council as Food Access Chair and the Big View Committee for Bridges Alliance of Johnson County. She was an Event Co-Chair for Hoosier Action: Gathering for a Healthy Franklin, which addressed contamination issues. She was nominated as Fox 59 and Community Health Network Community Hero of the Month August 2019. Soon after, she was honored as Indianapolis Colts Horseshoe Hero during the game of September 22, 2019. To become involved on a different level, she was elected Precinct Committee Person and Indiana State Delegate for the Johnson County Democratic Party. She serves on the Editorial Board of Indy Maven. She currently co-leads the Franklin Equity and Justice Coalition and is a Class of 2021 Leadership Johnson County participant.