NATICK – The Natick Service Council has just completed the first phase of a $175,000 renovation to its food pantry.
“We started this process in order to better serve the community,” Kelsey Hampton, food pantry and volunteer services director said. “We wanted to make it a better experience for our guests, our clients who utilize the service, and also for our volunteers.”
Shopping space has nearly tripled, Hampton said, and a new back entry lets clients head straight from the parking lot to the pantry. The previous setup had clients walking around to the side of the building and taking stairs or an elevator back down to the pantry.
“It wasn’t the best setup,” Natick Service Council Executive Director Greg Tutuny said. “(It was a) long walk …. down the sidewalk from the parking lot.”
The Natick Service Council is a non-profit with a variety of services. Besides the food pantry, it also offers financial assistance programs, gently used clothing, case management, and more.
“We’re sort of like a community safety net,” Tutuny said.
With the expansion, the council can now double the number of Natick residents served by the food pantry monthly – from about 200 to 400 – and has switched over to a more natural shopping layout.
Before, clients would tell volunteers what they wanted, then watch them collect goods from the other side of a counter.
“They want to feel normal,” Hampton said, of her clients. “Before people were receiving an actual handout. People were actually handing them their groceries.”
Now, going to the food pantry is a much more dignified experience, she said. Volunteers will still accompany clients – two households per appointment – but they can walk the aisles.
“It’s set up just like a grocery store,” Hampton said.
As a heart healthy food pantry, Hampton added, healthier choices are placed at eye level to promote better food choices.
The updates also help pantry volunteers. In the earlier layout, volunteers would bring donated goods to a storage area and a stocking area before setting them out in the cramped space where clients could see them.
Now, items can go directly from inspection to the shopping area.
Though the pantry remained open throughout the building renovations, the Council held an official ribbon-cutting to celebrate its milestone Thursday.
The next step is to expand the parking lot.
Tutuny said the organization will likely double its capacity, adding 20 to 30 spaces. The lot is shared with the neighboring housing authority, he pointed out, so it needs to accommodate both entities.
“Right now it’s kind of a challenging to find parking,” Tutuny said.
The new spaces will be carved from a green space on the housing authority property.
Alison Bosma can be reached at 508-626-3957 or abosma@wickedlocal.com. Find her on Twitter at @AlisonBosma.
