(CNN) As grocery store shelves sit bare during the coronavirus pandemic, good Samaritans across the country are taking it upon themselves to turn "Little Free Libraries" into "Little Free Pantries." Many of those honor-system book cabinets are now stocked with things like canned food, pasta and even toilet paper for those in need.

Anonymous giving catches on

Brookview Elementary's Little Free Library has turned into a Little Free Pantry.

Shelly Anderson filled a Little Free Pantry in Woodbury, Minnesota. For her, it was a chance to do something positive.

"This is an uncertain time. I think being able to provide something to anyone is worth it."

She first heard about the idea from a friend and decided to ask her kids' elementary school about converting their Little Free Library into a free pantry.

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