How Shrek Is Connecting People During the Pandemic

Shrek may seem like an unlikely pandemic hero, but in one South Philadelphia neighborhood, the ogre holds special meaning. To understand why, you have to go to Bella Vista and look for a chartreuse newspaper box that says From Our Swamp to Yours.

Taped to the cabinet’s front window, the instructions “Leave a Shrek, take a Shrek” have inspired people to leave Shrek-themed curios that fans of the film can grab for free, such as for Shrek’s breakfast-loving featuring the cartoon ogre; and , which the titular character says have layers, just like ogres. Wil Keiper, along with his friend Lauren Devlin, started the Shrek Box as a way to repurpose one of the city’s dilapidated newspaper boxes, which were filling up with trash. Rather than create a box that supported the community in more tangible ways, like the community fridges he noticed popping up during the pandemic, Keiper intended for the Shrek Box to serve as a means for people to connect while still adhering to social distancing. “People had to get really creative on how to have fun during the pandemic,” he told me in an email. “And being able to make something for the box probably helped direct people's imaginations in a new direction.”