Food pantries around Lincoln County are receiving plenty of donations, but sources say they won’t turn up their noses at more. Despite a huge outpouring of donations this year, local food pantries are getting about double the amount of requests for food assistance compared to last year.
Some food pantry sources say that their supplies are holding up for now, but seek other assistance and will take all the help they can get.
“If everybody came (to the food pantry) every week, we’d run out,” said Bob Hart from the United Methodist Church in New Harbor, where his wife, Donna, runs the food pantry. “All of our people need the help.”
Hart said that the pantry gets a lot of help from grocery stores such as Shaw’s in Wiscasset, Hannaford Supermarket and Yellowfront Grocery in Damariscotta. He said that the pantry gave out Thanksgiving food boxes to about 50 families this year, almost double the number of families compared to last year.
He said that they are fortunate to get help from the community. Hart said that the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Bristol Consolidated School run food drives.
“We’re pretty well stocked up now for the winter,” he said. “It helps, because we’re probably going to need it.”
Hart said that a majority of town residents are elderly. These residents can run low on finances when facing rising energy costs and the need for expensive medication. He said that while the organization Community Housing Improvement Project (C.H.I.P. Inc.) has been helping those in need with energy costs, the pantry still accepts contributions to help with food.
The food pantry at the West Waldoboro Community Church needs baby food. Reverend Michael Murphy said that the pantry is well stocked, thanks to generous community contributions, but accepts other items in addition to food.
“We get people asking for baby food, something we don’t have a lot of,” he said.
Murphy said that the church food pantry helped out roughly 35 families around this time last year. This year, the numbers almost doubled to 65 families.
He said that the pantry is accepting mostly food, but people have also donated such items as toothpaste and towels.
“Our luck is holding up so far, but we may end up needing help,” Murphy said.
The story is pretty much the same at the Boothbay Region Food Pantry located at the Congregational Church in Boothbay, which seeks assistance in the form of donations and volunteers.
Food Pantry Vice President Tom Wilson said that in Oct. 2007 the pantry served 117 people. In October this year, the pantry served 226 people and the number peaked to 234 people during Thanksgiving. The pantry in Boothbay serves the towns of Edgecomb, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport.
“We make sure that there is a minimum amount of waste,” Wilson said, referring to the fact that all of the people they give food to are in need. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better, so we welcome the donations.”
Wilson said that while the donations help, it takes a lot of effort to distribute the food. The food drives operated by Boothbay High School helped out a lot, he said, and the publicity the food bank received from a front page article in The Boothbay Register helped out a lot, too. Wilson said that the food bank welcomes donations in food, financial support and volunteer time.
To contribute to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry, the Congregational Church is located at the intersection of Townsend and Eastern Avenues in Boothbay Harbor and is open every Friday from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Monetary donations can be mailed to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry, P.O. Box 63, East Boothbay, 04544. For more information about this food pantry, contact Tom Wilson at 633-4757.
To make a donation to the United Methodist Church in New Harbor, contact Bob Hart at 677-3424. Hart said that people can also purchase items for the food bank at Yellowfront Grocery in Damariscotta.
People may also call Rev. Michael Murphy at 832-6902 to make a donation to the Waldoboro Food Pantry. Checks may also be made out to the Waldoboro Food Pantry, C/O Rev. Michael Murphy, 1027 Main St., Waldoboro, 04572.