CHERRY HILL, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — For the second time this year, the Cherry Hill Food Pantry says they are searching for a new home.
Janet Giordano, the executive director of the pantry, says she couldn’t believe it.
"When I got this letter, it was like somebody hit me over the head with a club,” she said. “I was absolutely stunned."
A potential landlord was withdrawing a low-rent offer to lease a building at the Church Road Circle.
The pantry, which is losing its current lease at the Brace Road Shopping Center, once again has to search for a new home.
The pantry had collected $11,000 in a GoFundMe campaign toward renovations of the potential new building, but that fundraising has now been suspended.
Giordano says her current landlord, Kimco Realty, has extended the pantry's rent-free lease, while the search for a new location resumes.
"We have 'til November 1, but really that's not enough time. Even if I found a building tomorrow, just putting in the electric we need -- even if the rest of it was all pristine -- you need time," she explained.
In the meantime, Giordano says the 450 people who use her facility each month tell her they don't know what they'll do, if the pantry is forced to close.
