Derry Salvation Army facing eminent domain opens new food pantry - The Union Leader

Derry Salvation Army facing eminent domain opens new food pantry - The Union Leader

DERRY — The Salvation Army of Greater Derry is celebrating the opening of its new and improved food pantry, which is fated to be a short-lived resource as the building is to be taken by the state via eminent domain to make room for a widened roadway in the next couple of years.

The organization bought the property at 18 Folsom Road in October 2017 for $490,000, and celebrated its first permanent location in April of last year.

The Salvation Army had plans to raise $200,000 to renovate the space, but learned earlier this spring that the state would need to take virtually the whole property for a major roadway project connected to the new highway exit off Interstate 93, Exit 4A.

“If we can serve clients better, even if it’s for one year, it’s worth doing,” Katie Mayes, the head of the Derry organization, said Monday.

Using grants from the Salvation Army USA and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation totaling $20,000, they finished a roughly 1,500-square-foot basement and bought refrigerators and large shelving units for an expanded food pantry.

Volunteers Bobby Aguirre and Edith Bragel had been working since last Wednesday to stock and organize the produce, bread, canned goods and other items to prepare for the first pantry opening for the season on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Mayes said Aguirre and Bragel, who have been volunteering for the Salvation Army for about the past decade, are the “heartbeat of the pantry.”

The food pantry serves about 40 families each Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m., according to Mayes.

Aguirre and Bragel generally spend the week picking up food donations from Walmart, Hannaford Supermarkets, Panera Bread, the New Hampshire Food Bank and local residents.

Before, the old food pantry was little more than a closet outside the chapel, and volunteers would lay out food on tables in the adjacent lobby.

Aguirre estimates the added space will allow them to hold at least four times as much food. They used to offer canned goods only on the third Tuesday of the month, but now people can select from all the items available each Tuesday. And they won’t have to throw away as much food now.

“The refrigerators and freezers really make a difference,” Aguirre said.

They will also start offering some cat and dog food and some personal hygiene products, the latter of which were organized by a women’s group in the attached Salvation Army church, Bragel said.

“We try to make everything a team effort,” she said.

Aguirre said they also deliver food donations to the Marion Gerrish Community Center and some nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the area.

Mayes said they haven’t received any updates from the state about the eminent domain process, so they don’t know how long they’ll be able to use this pantry. Construction for the Exit 4A project is expected to start in the summer of 2020 and finish in 2023.

Officials with the state Department of Transportation say four commercial properties, affecting 25 businesses, will be acquired as part of the project.

Residents of Derry, Londonderry or Windham who wish to use the food pantry must provide an up-to-date photo ID and proof of residency, such as a current utility bill.