CHESTNUTHILL TOWNSHIP, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) - The doors are opening to new opportunity.
"It's a huge, huge change!" says Hope Christman, Director of Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network.
'Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network' is moving to a new, larger location along Route 209 in Chestnuthill Township.
Christman adds, "and it seemed to be the perfect fit."
With help from a grant, PVEN purchased the property for $525,000 dollars.
There's a building for sprawling office space and garages to stock and serve food from.
"We'll have so much more room to not just serve our food clients and clothing clients, but to really fulfill the vision of PVEN, which is to become a hub for social services in the west end of Monroe County," Christman explains.
The pantry serves nearly 300 families each month in the West End.
PVEN currently operates from a former church.
"We've outgrown it," Christman adds.
The space is so small, volunteers have to bag food for clients. Then, like a drive-thru, those families pull up to the church and pick it up on distribution day.
"It's a little cramped!" Christman laughs.
But at the new location, it will be like shopping at the grocery store. Clients can browse the isles and decide which food they want.
There's also room for refrigerators so volunteers can offer milk and fresh eggs.
"And milk is something we don't really give out right now because we don't have the space for it," Christman says.
Moving a few miles, will go a long way.
Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Network's new location opens next spring. In the meantime, it continues to operate from the current location.
Starting December 9th, the pantry's also adding a Saturday food distribution day.
