Elizabeth Hill of Norristown, Pa. — one of tens of millions of Americans on SNAP — lives paycheck to paycheck. "To have a roll of paper towels … is a luxury item," she says. "Never did I ever think that I would have to live through a time in the United States where we were worried about food."

• With federal aid stalled, she thought about her neighbors who couldn't make it to food pantries because of work schedules or transportation limitations. So she started her own with plastic bins and a cooler, Axios' Avery Lotz writes.
• Her act of kindness sparked a chain reaction. Neighbors now help restock the bins, helping her in return.

🏘️ The big picture: Hill's mini food bank is one of many that's popping up around the country. To supplement the work of national and local nonprofits, neighbors are feeding neighbors with a network of front-yard aid.

AJ Owen and his sons are trying to do just that with their home pantry in Pittsburgh.

• Owen wants people to know that "you coming here and getting food from our little food pantry is no different than you coming over to have dinner."

Their project has gone mega-viral on TikTok, especially after Owen shared a video of him finding a surprise donation — a stack of hundred-dollar bills — left anonymously in his mailbox.

• His comments are flooded with pictures of front-yard and street corner helpers' own homemade pantries. He says seeing that "good multiplying across the country ... feels like this is America."

🍼 Kelly Perez, equipped with a cheap cabinet and Tupperware containers, started a pantry in her neighborhood near Kansas City, Mo. With help from a Facebook friend, she stocked one section with hygiene products, baby formula, diapers and more.

• The next day, she estimated, 90% of those goods had been taken. She told Axios: "I can rest easy at night, knowing that a baby in my community is being fed."

☀️ The bottom line: "No matter how dark things seem, there is still light out there," Hill says. "It's our job as citizens of this country to bring that light to fruition and bury the darkness. ... We can just be the sun."

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Girdwood, Alaska — near Anchorage — is blanketed in white after experiencing its first heavy snowfall of the season over the weekend.