DANBURY — Restocking items during Daily Bread Food Pantry’s distribution days used to be quite the challenge.
Between 60 to 75 families pass through the 600-square-foot space over the course of 1 1/2 hours, so it was hard for volunteers and clients to maneuver around each other.
When more cold food was needed out front, volunteers took the items from the fridge in the back, squeezed passed the clients and brought the food to the coolers on a bench by the exit.
“It was just really tight,” said Debbie Landzberg, board president for the organization, which serves 700 to 800 Danbury area families a month.
But an $85,000 grant and additional donations from the community are paying for the pantry to reconfigure its 600-square-foot space so the distribution area is less cramped.
The storage room, which previously took up the majority of the building, will now be less than a quarter of the space.
“It will be terrific to have more room,” said Rose Anne Benvenga, one of the volunteers.
The pantry has operated out of the carriage house of St. James Episcopal Church since 1984, when it opened to serve six families. Since then, the organization’s client base has ballooned to about 3,000 families a year, making the existing configuration inadequate, Landzberg said.
With the project, the pantry will be handicap accessible and have running water so volunteers can wash their hands. Taller, adjustable shelving that is easier to clean will also be installed. This means all the food needed during distribution will be kept in the shopping area.
“There isn’t that constant re-stocking,” Landzberg said.
Clients will also be able to pick out more of their own food, rather than receiving stock bags of food.
“People would like to choose what they want to choose for their families,” Landzberg said.
Construction began this month and is expected to be completed in mid-November. Distribution has continued, with St. James allowing the organization to give out food in its parish house and store items on its stage.
The project will likely mean the pantry will be unable to offer its annual Thanksgiving distribution, which last year provided meals for an estimated 2,000 people.
But the organization has told clients of the change and hopes to provide “Thanksgiving extras” without the full-fledged distribution, Landzberg said.
The project is mainly paid for through an $85,000 Community Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Ridgefield Thrift Shop donated $10,000, the Woman’s Club of Danbury/New Fairfield provided $800 and architect Leigh Overland donated his time.
The city assisted the organization in securing the block grant and will administer the money.
Mayor Mark Boughton said the city wanted to support the great work the pantry does.
“They’ve got a great vision of being able to help the community,” he said. “In this country—this is national problem, not just in Danbury—there is a widening gap between those people who have access to wealth and those that can’t make a living wage. There is a lot more pressure on these food pantries than ever before.”
The pantry is open on Mondays and Fridays, with families permitted to come once a month. Each distribution day, up to 10 new families register, Landzberg said.
“There’s this growing need,” she said. “There are a lot of people who can’t make ends meet. We want to serve that need.”
