A windstorm wasn’t strong enough to defeat the local community’s giving spirit – or one family’s determination to keep the giving going.

When a Dec. 28 windstorm battered the shed that houses the community pantry at Redline Performance and Repair in Sterling, neither Courtney Plotter, who came up with the idea for the community pantry, nor her husband, Cam, who helped make the pantry a reality, doubted the pantry would be back.

“The wind just grabbed it and took it away,” Courtney said. Her main concern was for those who use the pantry and who have come to rely on it since it started in October.

“I was worried that people wouldn’t have access to it if it was down. That was my main concern in wanting to get it back up as soon as we could. We knew the quicker that we got it put back up, the quicker that people could get to what they need,” she said.

Cam had it back in business in just a few days.

Courtney came up with the idea for a community pantry, sustained by donations and offering people a variety of items from food to hygiene and household products, after seeing similar projects on social media.

“I think everybody has experienced a situation where you can’t get something or you don’t have the means to get food or other supplies. I think it’s important to remember that,” she said.

When the government shut down on Oct. 1 and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits were put on hold for thousands of families in the Sauk Valley, Courtney decided to put her ideas into action.

“When the government shut down, I felt like there was a real need for it, for a family who didn’t have a meal or for people who needed something to tide them over until they got paid from work,” she said.

Inspired by smaller blessing boxes and little free libraries, Courtney decided she wanted the community pantry to be larger and large enough to hold shelves to help with organization and to help those who used the pantry see what was available.

“I found a shed that was reasonably priced, and I said, ‘Yeah, this will be good.’ I think it was a little bigger than what my husband envisioned,” she said.

Cam, a self-described “gearhead” whose specialty when it comes to building is high-performance autos, helped with getting the shed assembled and in place.

Cam is no stranger to helping others in need, having helped a local family in need during the holidays. So he was all in when he heard what Courtney planned to do.

“The whole idea of the pantry was hers. It was something she really wanted to do for the community,” he said.

The pantry operates through donations. Courtney said community members regularly drop off an array of items, from food to clothing necessities and hygiene items.

“We have been so lucky that the community has been so great. They have really come together to keep the pantry replenished. We have regulars who drop stuff off every week. The community action and help have been the best part of this,” she said.

Courtney herself puts her passion for couponing and bargain hunting to use for the pantry.

“I put a lot of laundry detergent there and whatever I can coupon or get on sale. I try to be really resourceful,” she said.

The pantry has a request board so people can leave special requests.

“We’ve had kids write down candy and soda. I think that is so important to consider – that these are real kids, real families, real human beings,” she said.

Feminine hygiene products and adult diapers are popular items.

“People will leave books, especially kids’ books, and the kids love those books,” she said.

Cam decided to sell the business, and that sale will be effective Jan. 20. But the pantry will remain in place.

“For now, for the foreseeable future, he plans to keep it in place. We plan to manage it,” Cam said.

In fact, keeping the pantry in place for now was a condition of Cam selling the business.

“That was my line in the sand when we were talking about selling the business. That was the one thing I requested, that it stay,” she said.

Courtney said she has been encouraged by the community response to the pantry, both those giving and those receiving.

“I just have faith. I think that love and kindness outweigh whatever negativity would come toward it,” she said.