The Saco Bay Food Pantry, with help from the Saco Bay Rotary, is in the position of looking to expand, to provide more room for a clothing donation program and food storage. The situation can be seen as both good and bad.
While everyone would prefer that their services were not needed, local pantries are a necessary safety net for hundreds of families during these rough economic times. Bob Nichols, director of pantry operations, said the pantry gave out about 83,100 meals to people last year, and he expects that to increase by 6,300 this year.
The good news, however, is that clothing and food donations are strong enough to meet that need, which means the pantry needs more space.
The expansion is expected to cost $150,000 in total, and the community has already expressed support for the expansion with $116,000 in monetary and in-kind donations, according to Rotarian Leo Menard, who is spearheading the project.
Now the city is being asked to do its part in helping the pantry, which has posed some conflicts. The Rotary has asked the city to waive the $1,200 new construction fee for the expansion project and haul away 300 cubic yards of material from the basement excavation.
An additional request has been made for the city to haul in back fill, stone and gravel for the new foundation, at a cost of about $5,500. If the answer is no, the Rotary wants to use the city’s purchasing power to buy the goods at a discount.
These requests pose a difficult question for city councilors, who are torn between helping a non-profit that provides an important service to residents and setting a precedent for city involvement in private projects.
We agree with councilors Leslie Smith and Art Tardif, who said recently that it would be prudent for the city to waive the $1,200 new construction fee, but city money and city workers should be kept out of the project.
Special considerations are certainly in order for this important social service entity, but the city should not get directly involved in the project by providing workers and equipment to aid construction. If the city approves sending its public works crew to work on the new foundation, it will be obligated to do the same for any other non-profit that comes looking for help.
The food pantry provides a very important service to city residents who have fallen on hard times. Since the city does not have its own food pantry, it stands to reason that some city support should go toward the pantry. Such is the case in most municipalities, which include non-profit funding in their annual budgets. Social service agencies that deal with homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence and other social problems deserve at least the monetary allocation in the budget and the support of citizens who recognize their value.
However, the city is not in the business of maintaining or expanding non-profits in whose operation they have no say. Major taxpayer commitment to the project, without a vote from the public, would either show favoritism to the pantry or would have every other non-profit ”“ with equally important missions ”“ to come knocking on the city hall door.
Having city workers lend their machinery and labor to the project also opens the city up to liability issues, should someone be injured or if the work is decided to be subpar in some way.
Giving the fee waiver and allowing the pantry to purchase goods with the city’s discount makes sense as a compromise, since it would give them a break without opening the city up to legal concerns. Going further would be a mistake that would open the floodgates for city involvement in non-profit entities.
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