OODesigns concept Town Commons is a fictional app concept created to demonstrate design work Back to gallery
Town Commons

The pantry and the calendar, in your pocket.

Grace Ibarra coordinates it from Commons Hall

Groceries on Thursday. A shift on Saturday, if you can spare one.

Town Commons runs the Riverside food pantry, the coat drive and a year of volunteer days out of Commons Hall in Wichita. Every shift and event is in the app now, so you can sign up, get food or give tonight without waiting for me to pick up the phone at supper.

Today
Mon to Sat, 9 to 5
Find a volunteer shiftGet food this week
I pin the paper version every Monday
A community bulletin board with a coat drive flyer and tear-off phone tabs, a volunteers needed notice for the fall block party, a book swap sticky note, and a photo of the community garden Coat drive Warm coats, hats and mittens for kids and grown-ups Oct 6 to Oct 25 Drop off at Commons Hall, side door on Porter Street Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm Coats 555-0192 Coats 555-0192 Coats 555-0192 Coats 555-0192 Coats 555-0192 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Fall block party, Sat Oct 11 Set-up crew, 7am Chili judges (3) Clean-up, 4pm Sign up in the Town Commons app Book swap Sun, 2pm library steps Garden plots open for spring Ask at the front desk
9:41
What's happening
Search events and volunteer shifts
EventsVolunteerGet food
Sat, Oct 4, 9am–12pm

Riverside Park cleanup

Dirt trail curving through yellow and orange autumn birch trees

Trash pickup and mulch on the north trail. Gloves provided.

Outdoors
6 spots left
Wed, Oct 8, 5–7pm

Food pantry sort & pack

Hands setting tomatoes into a wooden crate of fresh vegetables

Sort this week's donations for Thursday at the commons hall.

Indoors
14 spots left
Sat, Oct 11, All day

Fall block party

Pot of vegetable chili with beans, corn and herbs

Music, a chili cook-off, and coat drive sign-ups at the main tent.

Family-friendly
Open to all
Browse events & volunteer shifts
9:41
A clean dirt trail through autumn birch trees, with a walker far down the path
Sat, Oct 4, 9am–12pm

Riverside Park cleanup

Meet at the boathouse pavilion. Gloves and tools provided.

Choose a shift
9–10:30 10:30–12 Whole shift
2 in your group
−+
Your service hours
12.5 hof 20 for school, +1.5 Sat

Logged at check-in. Signed letter any time.

Confirm RSVP
Event sign-up & RSVP

If you need groceries this week, come

The Riverside pantry is open to anyone in Sedgwick County. You do not need proof of income or an appointment, and nobody will ask you why.

When
Thursdays 4:00 to 7:00 PM and Saturdays 9:00 to 11:00 AM
Where
Commons Hall, side door on Porter Street. The door has a ramp and there is free parking behind the hall.
Bring
A bag or a box if you have one. Photo ID on your first visit if you have it. If you don't, come anyway.
How often
Once a week per household. Fresh produce, bread, dairy and shelf items, about 35 pounds.
Can't get here
Call (316) 555-0192. On Tuesdays a volunteer drives a box to homebound neighbors in Riverside.
Hands setting tomatoes into a wooden crate of fresh vegetables

Shifts that still need hands

At 14 you can come on your own. Younger, bring a grown-up. A lead meets every shift at the door. Wear shoes you do not love.

DateShiftTimeOpen spotsSign up
Sat, Oct 4Riverside Park cleanupLead: Dana, meet at the boathouse pavilion9:00 AM to 12:00 PM6 of 20Sign up
Wed, Oct 8Pantry sort and packLead: Luis, Commons Hall basement5:00 to 7:00 PM14 of 18Sign up
Thu, Oct 9Pantry distributionLead: Grace, side door on Porter Street3:30 to 7:30 PM4 of 12Sign up
Sat, Oct 11Block party set-upLead: Dana, main tent on the hall lawn7:00 to 10:00 AM8 of 10Sign up
Tue, Oct 14Homebound delivery driverLead: Luis, own car, mileage logged10:00 AM to 12:00 PM2 of 5Sign up

Your first shift, from sign-up to home

Poco a poco se anda lejos. Little by little, you go a long way. Last year 318 of you gave two hours here and two hours there, and it came to 41,600 meals.

Sign up in the app and a text comes straight back with your shift lead's name, where to park and what to wear. Read the line about shoes.

The evening before, you get one reminder, with a weather call for anything outdoors. If your week falls apart, reply X and the spot opens for a neighbor. Your lead would rather know than stand in the lot wondering.

At the door your lead checks you in from a phone. No clipboard, no form in a doorway. Coffee is on the table by the coat rack.

When you head home, your hours land in your log. For school, for court or for an employer match, the app makes a signed letter and you download it yourself. Pick one shift from the list above and start this week.

Grace IbarraCoordinator, Commons Hall. My desk is the first one inside the Murdock door.

One dollar, about three meals

That is what our food bank partner makes of every dollar. Start small: $15 a month comes to 540 meals in a year.

$2575 meals
$50150 meals
$100300 meals
$15 a month540 meals a year
Give in the app

What the shelves are short of

Peanut butter, canned chicken or tuna, low-sugar cereal, cooking oil, diapers in sizes 4 to 6, and kids' coats in sizes 6 to 14. Drop off Monday to Saturday, 9 to 5. Please, no more zucchini.

Where last year's dollar went

Food and programs
84¢
Running the hall
10¢
Fundraising
6¢
41,600meals shared in 2025
318volunteers
5,140volunteer hours

2025 Form 990 (PDF)2025 annual report (PDF)

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Gifts are tax-deductible, and a receipt arrives by email the same day.

Commons Hall, at Murdock and Porter

900 W Murdock St
Wichita, KS 67203

On the corner of Murdock and Porter, two blocks west of Central Riverside Park. Park free behind the hall. For the pantry, use the side door on Porter Street, which has a ramp. The Murdock door sticks, so give it a push.

Monday to Saturday9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
SundayClosed
Food pantryThu 4:00 to 7:00 PM
Sat 9:00 to 11:00 AM

Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The pantry runs the Wednesday before instead, 4 to 7 PM.

Call (316) 555-0192 Get directions
Street map of the Riverside neighborhood of Wichita, with the Little Arkansas River and Riverside Park, and a pin at West Murdock Street and North Porter Street

Commons Hall

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Main door, Murdock
Office, coat drop-off, volunteer check-in
Side door, Porter
Food pantry, with a ramp
Lot behind the hall
Free, 24 spaces, two accessible