The Community Food Pantry located at 176 West High Street in Somersworth serves families living in Somersworth, Berwick, Rollinsford, and Lebanon. Pantry staff would like to thank the Somersworth scouts for conducting their food drive which took place on Saturday Nov. 4.
Scouting for Food began with Troop 195 and Pack 195 as a Scouts Eagle Project. Scouting for Food became a National event in 1985.
This year in Somersworth 10 Boy Scouts from Troop 195, 8 Cub Scouts from Pack 195 and 8 Girl Scouts from Troop 10430 collected a total of 1,750 pounds of food to help stock the pantry shelves.
The pantry was started in 1990 as a combined effort of the churches in the three towns of Somersworth, Berwick and Rollinsford and Strafford County Community Action. It was the dream child of several people. Harriet Corson had distributed food as part of her work at Somersworth Community Action Program office. Rev. Mark Rideout had been giving out food to those people who came to the church in need. First Parish Church and Community Action were, originally, across the street from one another. Mark and Harriet decided it didn’t make sense to have two pantries in Somersworth, so they put their resources together to distribute the food from the church. Then, they decided to ask other churches to join in the effort, making it an ecumenical and community venture, staffed by volunteers from all of the participating churches. The pantry started out serving 25 families consisting of 43 adults and 35 children. Since that small beginning the pantry has grown substantially. It is now not affiliated with any church but is a nonprofit 501( C )(3) Organization.
In the first nine months of 2017 the pantry has served an average of 295 families per month. The total number of adults served this year is 4,742 and the number of children served is 2,554. During the first nine months of this year the pantry had distributed approximately 130,000 pounds of food to 2,261 families.
Without the generous contributions from drives such as this one and donations received from area businesses, organizations, churches, schools, stores and individuals this would not be possible. Director Patricia Vachon would also like to express special thanks to the following businesses who donate to the food pantry on a regular basis: Hannaford Supermarkets, Shaw’s Supermarkets, Panera Bread, and Operation Blessing all of whom donate food approaching it’s sell by date:, Zack’s Farm in York Maine and Spillers farm in Wells Maine for their generous donations of fresh produce all summer long: McDougal Orchards in Springvale, Maine and Smith Apple Orchards in Acton, Maine for the abundant donations of apples during September and October: and the many other local individuals and groups who donate from their own gardens. Special thanks to the Master Gardiners who pick all the produce the pantry receives from the farms and orchards listed above. These donations and all the volunteers who collect them and man the food pantry is what makes it possible for so many area families in need to receive help in putting food on their tables.
Thank you to the scouts for their great effort and to the staff of the Somersworth American Legion who provided space at their facility for the pantry to host this Scouting for Food Drive.
