New Cheshire Food Pantry to open this week - Meriden Record-Journal

New Cheshire Food Pantry to open this week - Meriden Record-Journal

CHESHIRE — The new Cheshire Community Food Pantry will open this week with larger storage areas, loading docks and an office.

Located at 175 Sandbank Road, the 6,000-square-foot, $1.1 million facility will provide food to about 300 individuals.

The town’s previous food pantry, at 51 Railroad Ave., was a third the size of the new building. Construction on the new building began in April after the state Department of Correction donated two acres on Sandbank Road. A $450,000 state grant was used for construction.

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The new facility has refrigeration and freezer storage and will be able to accept larger donations. The building also has two loading docks and an office.

“It’s a much safer, secure environment here,” executive director Patty Hartmann said. “It really is more, I feel, client-friendly than it was before.”

A garden next to the building will also be used to grow produce.

“We want to make our clients ... feel happy to come here,” Hartmann said.

Though the pantry has always provided flour, sugar, and other kitchen staples, the facility hopes to offer more dairy and perishable foods.

In order to shop at the food pantry, clients must meet criteria set by the state Department of Social Services. Once approved, all visits are free.

Clients come in by appointment, once a week, for 15 minutes at a time.

“We’re here to supplement as opposed to being a grocery store,” Hartmann said.

Ford Cole has volunteered at the pantry for about three years and said the new facility is larger and brighter.

“It’s going to be easier to shop,” Cole said. “It’s going to give the client more of an opportunity to get a selection.”

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