Mount Prospect community turns mini libraries into mini pantries during COVID-19 pandemic

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (WLS) -- The community of Mount Prospect is coming together once again for another special mission.

Their mini library has switched gears into a mini pantry to make sure families have items they need while social distancing for COVID-19.

Joey Carbone is the architect behind the Mount Prospect Mini Library Mission, a movement to promote education and literacy in the area.

Now those libraries are turning into pantries for food and supplies.

"Well we still have books of course in a lot of them and other ones we have non perishable goods, snacks for kids and stuff that was hard to find in the grocery stores as of recently," Carbone said. "Water bottles, I think one of my neighbors put a bunch of toilet paper in hers."

"Whatever you need, whatever you can get," he added.

It started with lemons of love, a Mount Prospect nonprofit that creates care packages for cancer patients. They are not up and running right now due to COVID-19 so this is a way to still a way to give back.

"This town is just really just, everyone looks out for each other. It's pretty awesome," Carbone said.

The neighborhood plans to keep it going as long as possible, everyone doing what they can while staying safe.

"For me, it's kind of important to stay away. I am very immune-compromised having fibromyalgia and heart failure and stuff like that. So I'm trying to avoid people at all costs and help people by supplying stuff. I wipe everything down with Clorox, clean off the library as well. I even have hand sanitizer attached to it in case so you can clean before you grab stuff out of there."

From Mount Prospect to Evanston and Andersonville, there's a positive movement growing as communities remember we're in this together.