WESTPORT – The Westport Food Pantry, offered weekly in the shuttered Westport Middle School, is in danger of closing if a new home isn’t found for the charitable group.
“We have six weeks, and we have to be out of here,” said Food Pantry President the Rev. John Costa. “We have nowhere to go.”
The Westport Middle School is set for demolition, as a new school is planned for the site, giving the group very little time to find a location.
The pantry, run on donations from residents, businesses and the Boston Food Bank, serves 120 to 150 households in town each month, and delivers to another 15 or more shut-ins in the community.
On Tuesday, the food pantry was stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables, coolers filled with meats and whole chickens, and tables set up with staples like cereal, tomato sauce, peanut butter and coffee. They even had bread and desserts.
“Do you want eggs honey?” volunteer Janet Tetrault asked a woman coming in for her supplies.
“Just a dozen,” Doris Aguiar answered.
“I’ve been coming here for a while,” Aguiar said, explaining that she lives on a fixed income. “I get enough for the month. They are great for the town of Westport.”
Carlos Costa, a member of the Board of Directors, said some might consider the town of Westport a more affluent community than some of its neighboring towns and cities, but he said there are people in need, especially elderly and disabled citizens.
“You know people really need it when they come through the door and say ‘no thank you I have some at home,’” about certain items, Carlos Costa said.
The food pantry serves many senior citizens. In April, 94 of those served were elders. It also counted 111 adults and 45 children, all included in the 124 families served.
About finding a new location, Carlos Costa said: “I’m praying on it. I know the town of Westport has got to do something.”
Sisters Michelle Leahy, 38, and Melanie Ribeiro, 33, who both have medical issues, said they use the pantry to supplement their food at home with their parents.
“It’s been a huge help to us,” said Leahy, who is recovering from knee surgery. “It’s a blessing.”
Ribeiro said her family is “struggling to get back on our feet. It means more than I can say in words,” she said. “When I first came here, I didn’t expect them to be so nice. They greet us with hugs. They don’t just give us food, they genuinely care for the families.”
Costa said some of the families arrive at the food pantry two hours early just to socialize with one another and with the two dozen volunteers on hand.
“It breaks my heart,” Costa said. “They’re distraught over not having a place to do this.”
The food pantry started about a decade ago at the Westport Council on Aging. It moved to the school a few years back when it outgrew the space.
Donations come from residents, plus businesses like Cumberland Farms, Stop & Shop and Save-a-Lot.
