LAKES REGION – “We have enough, thanks. We can’t take anymore.”
That’s one thing you will never hear from a food pantry manager, especially during the holidays.
At Thanksgiving, the role of the local food pantry is critical for those struggling to make ends meet but nevertheless want to provide their families with a traditional and joyous holiday feast.
Despite limited freezer and shelving space, the region’s food pantries – from Windham to Bridgton – spent last week and earlier this week packing every square inch of available storage space with food stuffs in anticipation of the annual distribution of Thanksgiving baskets.
The baskets typically take the form of cardboard boxes with plenty of traditional Thanksgiving goodies inside, including a frozen turkey or voucher, bags of potatoes and carrots, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, and sometimes even a pie.
And while demand for pantry storage space is up, so is usage. Compared with last year, according to various pantry managers, most basket-providing programs are seeing a 40 to 50 percent spike in folks applying for the special holiday meal.
Fortunately, those same pantry managers say, donations to fund the baskets are also up this year, as people realize there are those in the community who are going without at this family-centric time of year.
Windham
Madeline Roberts, director of the Windham Clothes Closet and Food Pantry, says demand for baskets is way up compared with last year, when she gave out 167 baskets. This year, the food pantry is at 215 requests as of last week. Her assistant, Rene Daniel, projects that number to crest 250 by Thanksgiving Day.
To handle the demand, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams at St. Joseph’s College in Standish came to the Route 202-based pantry last Saturday, Nov. 20, to pack boxes.
The program is based on the honor system, with few application requirements besides proof of Windham residency. Clients came in two waves, due to space demands, on Sunday, Nov. 21, to pick up their baskets.
The biggest obstacle to this year’s increased demand is the space.
“We give out frozen turkeys, so that means we use all of our freezers here. We have 10 freezers, and all are stocked to the top,” Roberts said early last week.
Under a new arrangement made possible by the nonprofit Sebago Lake Rotary Club, the pantry is now purchasing food from the Good Shepherd Food-Bank. It received most of the turkeys from the Lewiston-based food distributor and will purchase the rest from Shaw’s Supermarket in Windham “at a good price,” Roberts said.
While demand is up, the Windham pantry is able to get more bang for their buck this year due to the new partnership with Good Shepherd, she added. Private donations are also up as more people learn about the need in the community of 17,000 people.
Gray
In Gray, there are two organizations handing out a total of 140 Thanksgiving baskets this year. One, the Gray Community Food Pantry, based at the First Congregational Church of Gray parish house on Brown Street, receives its funding from church members, private donors, and a major supplier, Hannaford Bros. supermarkets. The other basket-distributor is the five-year-old Caring Community of Gray-New Gloucester.
Both efforts are headed by Donna Rand, of Gray, whose holiday season is dominated with managing logistics involved with overseeing both Thanksgiving basket efforts as well as next month’s Christmas baskets.
CC of GNG, as members like to call themselves for short, works a little differently when it comes to basket sponsorship. While Rand heads up the solicitation of low-cost food from such distributors as Hannaford, she also matches those who apply for the baskets with sponsors who pay for the dinners.
“That’s what makes our program special,” Rand said. “It’s very personal. The sponsors love it, because people love to give and love to know who they’re giving to.”
After being matched by Rand according to how much they can afford to spend on another family’s Thanksgiving dinner, CC of GNG sponsors directly call the client and find out the specific items the family would like for their special dinner. Some single mothers with one child, for example, don’t need a large turkey feast.
“I’ve seen some request a little chicken and that’s about it. It can run the spectrum,” Rand said. “But the sponsors and recipients will talk directly, and in that process, it can get very emotional and heartwarming. They can tell each other their life’s story.”
Usually, Rand will run out of sponsors before she runs out of clients. During the year, CC of GNG and the community food pantry raise money from local businesses, civic organizations, churches and individuals to provide for those extra clients.
“We give to everyone as long as we have the funds and sponsors to do so,” Rand said.
Standish
Catherine’s Cupboard, based in the town hall in Standish, has seen a drastic increase in requests for Thanksgiving baskets this year.
According to pantry manager Amy Russell, the food pantry gave out 125 baskets a year ago. It was on track last week to hand out 200 this year, and as Thanksgiving was approaching, Russell said applications were still arriving.
“We’ve been flooded by phone calls. We had folks at the polls on Election Day trying to get the word out, and people are now seeking us out,” Russell said.
Catherine’s Cupboard works with Wayside Food Rescue in Portland, which is providing 12- to 15-pound frozen turkeys and all the trimmings this year. About 20 people, Russell said, have offered to sponsor clients at $30 per basket. In addition to sponsors, the Cupboard receives funding from St. Joseph’s College, the college’s cafeteria operator, Bon Appetit, as well as the town of Standish, which built a room onto its municipal offices complex dedicated to the pantry.
Raymond
While the newly renovated basement of the Lakes Region Baptist Church on Route 302 is the usual site for the Raymond Food Pantry, the effort to provide Thanksgiving baskets to needy Raymond families is turned over to Raymond Village Community Church. Church member Andy Morrison, along with a team of volunteers, coordinates the effort which is also sponsored by the Baptist church and other organizations in the area.
In the lead-up to Thanksgiving, donations are collected at Raymond schools, by Scout troops and local churches, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in North Windham. Morrison then works with both Good Shepherd Food Bank and Wayside Food Rescue to obtain food donations, including the requisite frozen turkey. Distribution to the 50 recipient families took place Sunday, Nov. 21, at the church located on Main Street.
“We’ve seen numbers stay pretty steady for the past couple of years. About 50 families receive the Thanksgiving meal, which provides a turkey and everything else, the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle,” Morrison said.
Bridgton
Working with the local Hannaford and Food City, Bridgton Food Pantry coordinator Deb Davenport reports this year’s basket effort is doing brisk business, with 40 to 50 percent more people applying compared with last Thanksgiving.
“We’re seeing a lot more this year, which some people find surprising because when you come into Bridgton, you see a small community,” Davenport said. “But we have a lot of people on the outskirts of downtown who come in and use the pantry. There are a lot of low-income people and that’s why we’re seeing the larger numbers.”
While there are needy in Bridgton, there are also a lot of people able and willing to donate. Hannaford and Food City lent a hand by allowing the food pantry to distribute flyers requesting $10 donations from shoppers to provide Thanksgiving baskets. The effort netted money enough to provide more than 200 baskets, which were distributed by the pantry as well as area churches.
Naples
While the do-it-yourself baskets seem to be the Thanksgiving go-to for most food distribution centers in the Lakes Region, Crosswalk Community Outreach, based out of the town hall in Naples, planned to host a Thanksgiving Day dinner for those needing a delicious turkey dinner.
Anyone was welcome, not just the poor, but also those who “don’t want to be alone, or can’t travel to far-away family, or even those who can’t manage to host a big Turkey Day dinner like they used to,” organizer Joanne Moore said.
“Seventy-one people showed up last year, so it’s really a blessing to be a part of this, and it’s getting pretty popular,” Moore added.
Moore and about 10 other volunteers were to run the event, which is held in the town hall gym and features table clothes, musical accompaniment, and food bought through the Good Shepherd Food-Bank including about a dozen turkeys.
Moore said she enjoys the community atmosphere of the group, saying, “It feels like the very first Thanksgiving Day dinner.”
Just in time for the Thanksgiving Day, the Gray Food Pantry
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