By Kathy Onorato
With 41 boxes of food ready to be distributed to the Whitefield community, volunteers of the Whitefield Food Pantry hosted an open house April 3 at its new location at St. Denis Hall.
Whitefield Food Pantry volunteers, from left, Mary Grady, Emily Jones, Phyllis Wheeler, Becky Morton, Mary Lemieux, Earl Lemieux, and Anita Johns prepare food boxes for distribution at the food pantry’s new location at St. Denis Hall on Grand Army Road. (Kathy Onorato photo) |
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Mary Lemieux said she and her husband, Earl, were sitting around their kitchen table one evening about 15 years ago and were discussing ways they could help the town of Whitefield. The very next morning, Lemieux said she got a call from a friend who suggested they begin a food pantry.
“If that isn’t God working for us, I don’t know what is,” Lemieux said.
The Whitefield Food Pantry began at the Sheepscot Valley Community Church in the basement. At that time, Lemieux said the church was not very active and had very few members. If it wasn’t for the food pantry and a weekly Bible study the church may have even closed, Lemieux said. “We didn’t want that to happen,” Lemieux said. “We tried to keep the church going.”
The church did keep going and the Sheepscot Valley Community Church’s congregation has grown to the point that it needed the space taken up by the food pantry and is the main reason for its relocation to St. Denis Church.
Lemieux said another deciding factor to move was the many elderly clients were having trouble negotiating the stairs to the church’s basement.
The food pantry is now up and ready at the new location at St. Denis Hall on Grand Army Road in Whitefield and held its first distribution on April 4.
“Father Frank told me we were here for life,” Lemieux said.
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Healthy Lincoln County’s Lara Cogar offers a food demonstration during the Whitefield Food Pantry’s open house on April 3. (Kathy Onorato photo) |
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The food pantry will be open on the first Friday of every month from 1 to 3 p.m.
The Whitefield Food Pantry depends on cash and food donations from individuals, businesses as well the town of Whitefield. Most of the food is purchased through the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn for 16-cents a pound.
This year Whitefield selectmen asked voters to appropriate $4,000 at its town meeting on March 15. Food pantry volunteer Marlene Sullivan made a motion to increase the appropriation to $5,000, which voters approved.
According to Lemieux, the town budgeted just $200 a year until a few years ago, when the board of selectmen was asked by food pantry volunteers to rethink its appropriation based on the needs of the community. Last year the pantry helped 85 families, which represents over 300 people, Lemieux said.
Lemieux said there is a great need in the community for food and some years, the pantry runs short, but Lemieux said she cannot turn anyone away.
“Sometimes we pull it out of our own pockets,” Lemieux said.
Lemieux said she really cares about the people the food pantry serves. Over the years a relationship builds, she said.
“When you sit here and listen to people’s stories for 15 years, they become family,” Lemieux said.
People come to the pantry for more than food, Lemieux said. “Sometimes they just need to talk to someone about their situations,” she said.
For the past 12 years, volunteer Phyllis Wheeler takes a monthly trip to the Good Shepherd Food Bank where she picks up 1,200- to 1,300-pounds of food and brings it back to the pantry where it is sorted for distribution to local residents.
“We wanted to be helpful and enjoy giving what we can,” Wheeler said.
Earl Lemieux said the pantry is always looking for dedicated people to help with the program. “It’s hard to find dedicated help. You have to be committed to stay a while,” Earl said.
For more information on donating or ways to volunteer call 528-2864.
