After coming together to support the community, a group of area residents are excited to begin operations as the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry.
The pantry, working in conjunction with St. Giles Episcopal Church, will host its first food pantry day on Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 4-5:30 p.m. at St. Giles at 72 Gardiner Rd. in Jefferson.
The pantry looks to support efforts to ensure no one goes hungry in the community.
Several of the pantry’s board members noted the region’s need for such an organization.
“We were all very concerned. We know there is a lot of poverty in the area,” Joan Ebbeson, secretary of the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry, said.
For the past 24 years, the Jefferson area had been serviced by the Jefferson Food Pantry, based out of the First Baptist Church of Jefferson and run by Ellis and Donna Bond.
Following the retirement of the Bonds, the Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry is stepping up to continue the services offered by the area’s previous food bank.
“People in town need to know there is a group that is making progress,” Tina White, vice chair of the pantry, said.
“We are going to serve the residents of Jefferson and Somerville,” White said.
Pantry Chair Aaron Greene-Morse said the board is re-energized and looking to provide support to the community.
In addition to foodstuffs, the pantry greatly appreciates financial donations to aid its efforts to fight hunger in the community. Donations can be sent to St. Giles at P.O. Box 34, Jefferson, ME 04348. Checks should be payable to St. Giles Episcopal Church with Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry on the memo line.
With the school year once again underway across the region and the winter months ahead, the need for donations is particularly great.
The pantry is on its way to becoming an agent of the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, a major source of inexpensive food for pantries around the state.
For more information, call the pantry at 322-8863.
