About two weeks ago, Markie Madden was on her lunch break at JC Penney and went next door to Walmart. All she wanted was a can of beans.
"They were completely wiped out of everything," Madden said. "That's literally all I wanted, was a bag of pinto beans or something."
She was able to get a couple of things for dinner from a different grocery store after she got off work. Because she does her grocery shopping on a specific day each week, her and her husband's house at the time was pretty low on food. They might have had to eat cereal for dinner.
Madden's nearest neighbor is a quarter-mile down the road. She knows their last name because it's written on the mailbox. She was reminded of the old days where you could go next door and borrow a cup of flour from the neighbor.
So she created the Facebook group "Neighbors Helping Neighbors near Butler County, Missouri" as a way to help local people find food resources due to the shortage currently underway due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
She went to bed and the next morning there were 93 requests to join the group.
"There are people in town who are going to go hungry because they get money but they can't find anything to eat," Madden said.
Two weeks later the now public group has nearly 5,400 members and has inspired a similar group in St. Charles.
"People in a small town are used to looking out for one another," Madden said. "I wanted a safe place for people to say they don't have anything for dinner, can someone help me out."
Contrary to the also popular Poplar Bluff Swap Shop group, Madden's group is not a place to sell anything. Neighbors don't charge neighbors for a cup of milk.
As the group expanded, so did the needs of its members. Baby formula and diapers are popular requests these days. It's also become a spot to updates on which local restaurants are doing carry out and delivery, which stores have hard to find items like toilet paper, who is hiring the recently unemployed. There are also posts about area food pantries.
"I've never seen it this bad where you walk into a grocery store and there's no food in the grocery store," Madden said.
Madden has discussed archiving the group once the supply chain inevitably catches up with demand, and later down the road when the pandemic passes. Its need was based on an emergency, after all. But she said the group didn't want that. It can still serve as a venue for people who are new to the area or for visitors to ask questions.
"I guess we'll just see how it runs it's course," Madden said. "I have a handful of really great ladies who are helping moderate."