Seacoast community helps move Portsmouth food pantry - NH1 News

Seacoast community helps move Portsmouth food pantry - NH1 News

PORTSMOUTH — Currently bursting at the seams, The Seacoast Family Food Pantry in Portsmouth is moving to a new location and today volunteers helped get their new building ready.

For more than 200 years, the food pantry has served residents along the seacoast of New Hampshire. Now the need is too great to stay inside Portsmouth City Hall where there is limited space. This is where hundreds of people are helped every month, picking up food staples to help get them through the week.

“We’ve definitely seen an uptick. For example the Meals for Children program is double and almost triple. It was crazy,” said Deborah Anthony, Executive Director of the Seacoast Family Food Pantry.

Over the summer, 350 children were being fed in their meals program. Now they’re aggressively recruiting companies to help out with food drives. This year they’ll receive nearly one million dollars-worth of food from these efforts.

They’re also getting corporate help with their move to the new space on West Road, right behind Market Basket. 60 workers from Timberland came to lend a hand Thursday.

“We’re constructing space for 15,000 pounds of food,” said Jeff Ward, who works as the Project Director on-site for Timberland.

The Stratham company gives employees 40 hours a year, paid time-off, to do community service work.

The food pantry also got help from Newmarket’s varsity soccer team today. The 20 girls helped moved food from the current warehouse to the new space.

“Thank goodness we have a lot of people on our team,” Newmarket High School Senior, Jasmine Senesombath told NH1 News.

“I think it’s important to help the community to volunteer our time and help everybody else out,” added her soccer teammate, Matigan Farnese.

The 6000-square-foot new food pantry opens Wednesday, Sept 21. It is accessible by public transportation.