Here is a snapshot of how the food pantry has adapted during the past five years in order to meet the rising need for food assistance within the Boothbay region. 

First, the growing need: in 2008, the pantry gave out food supplies to 856 people, whose family size ranged from one to as many as eight individuals. In 2012, the number of food allotments rose to 1,127. That’s an increase of 32 percent.

How has the pantry managed to meet such a substantial rise in its clientele? You know the answer: food drives by local businesses, churches, youth and adult nonprofit organizations, as well as donations of food and money from concerned individuals who live here year-round or who come to the region during the warmer months of the year. 

As for the present, the food pantry’s directors and volunteers helped put food on the tables of 128 families in January of 2013, up from 96 families in January 2012. Those families comprised 322 family members, many of them elderly, disabled, or children (90 more than the 232 individuals served in January 2012). 

Because of the blizzard, the food pantry was open only on three Fridays in February. In all, 104 families were served that month, an average of 34 families each week. The total number of family members served in February was 245, a weekly average of 82 people, many of them children.

The pantry’s directors would like to thank the community organizations, businesses, churches and individuals who sent checks to the food pantry during the first two months of this year. The pantry also is grateful for the bags and boxes of food left at the pantry door for distribution to neighbors in need of food assistance.

How to help

Donations of food items (unopened boxes and canned goods within or not far beyond their sell-by dates) may be left at the main parking-lot door of Boothbay Harbor’s Congregational Church, either inside during normal office hours or outside at other times. If you wish to donate perishable food items, please call Fleet Davies (207-350-4077) or Sue Landemare (207-633-6884) to make arrangements for delivery and prompt refrigeration. 

Monetary contributions, which are tax deductible, are also welcome because they give pantry buyers the flexibility they need to maintain a wide selection of food for clients. 

Checks should be made payable to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry and sent to the pantry at P.O. Box 63, East Boothbay, ME 04544. Many thanks, as always, for helping the pantry to carry out its mission to put food on the tables of all Boothbay region residents who need assistance to feed themselves and their families.

Information for clients

The Boothbay Region Food Pantry is in the lower level of the Congregational Church at 125 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. It is open every Friday from noon to 2 p.m. and is accessible to people in wheelchairs.

If local schools are closed because of weather conditions, the pantry also is closed. If you can’t make it to regular open hours or if you have a food emergency, call the church at 207-633-4757, Monday through Friday. If the church office is closed, call Fleet Davies at 207-350-4077 or Tom Wilson at 207-633-4952. The pantry serves residents in the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb. New clients should provide proof of residency, such as a recent utility bill, lease or rent receipt.