
Arundel House of Pizza was honored with the Chamber of Commerce President’s Award for its commitment to serving the community. From left are Melinda Breault, Torey Daney, owners Kristen Allaire, Christian Allaire, Craig Allaire and Stacy Allaire. Contributed / Arundel House of Pizza
Early this month, Community Outreach Services sent out a call to the Kennebunk community. The food pantry shelves were almost empty, and COS needed help.
Arundel House of Pizza answered the call.
The local pizza joint mobilized immediately, collecting a portion of the proceeds from their sales to purchase food for the pantry. Then, they hit the grocery store, filling carts with items requested by COS.
“Sometimes everyone needs a hand,” the Allaire family, owners of Arundel House of Pizza, said in a joint statement.
It’s not a rare act of kindness for the business. Each month, the restaurant holds a fundraiser for local charities, and runs a food drive for the pantry.
“If we can, we always help out those who need it,” wrote Kristen Allaire.
The kindness shown by Arundel House of Pizza is important to the food pantry, COS Executive Director Mark Jago told the Post.
This month’s donation was just one example of how the pizza place supports the community.
“It was awesome,” Jago said. “We got specific food items that we mentioned we were low on.”
Community Outreach Services serves a large portion of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Arundel community. On average, about 238 shoppers visit the pantry on a monthly basis. In a year, the pantry could serve up to 800 local families.
Patrons leave with bags of groceries usually totaling around $45, Jago said. For just Kennebunk shoppers, which make up 68% of the pantry’s customers, the cost of groceries comes out to over $280,000 a year.
Without the support of food drives and fundraisers, COS would be responsible for paying the sum out of pocket — something they simply can not do.

Community Outreach Services Executive Director Mark Jago serves a meal at a local soup kitchen. Contributed / Community Outreach Services
But the pantry has a huge impact on the community, Jago said.
“Some people honestly don’t have enough money at the end of the month to pay for both food and bills,” Jago said. “We’re a huge help to them.”
Arundel House of Pizza isn’t the only local business supportive of the food pantry. The Kennebunk and Kennebunkport Rotary Clubs often hold fundraisers and food drives for COS, and local banks like Kennebunk Savings and Bangor Savings get involved, as do many local churches.
Mildred L. Day School and Sea Road School also hold annual food drives for the pantry.
“The community is very much involved in wanting to help,” Jago said. “We get quite a bit of support.”
But it’s unique for an independent business like Arundel House of Pizza to step up and help, Jago said. “We don’t get too many that donate,” he said. “As a business owner, I would want the community to know that I was supporting the food pantry.”
Arundel House of Pizza certainly does. Last year, the business donated $20,000 to the community through food drives and local charities.
It’s part of their business model, the Allaires said, and something they plan to keep doing.
“Giving back feels more amazing than anything,” Kristen Allaire said.
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