WATERBORO — It was 88 degrees in the sun on Townhouse Road Saturday, but the heat and humidity didn’t seem to make a difference.

Folks came to hammer and saw to help build a pantry to serve people in Waterboro who don’t always get enough to eat. By the end of the weekend, there were walls.

The 24-by-36-foot building, located on donated land adjacent to town hall, is being built by a volunteer effort that includes everything from organizing fundraising events like raffles and dances to picking and freezing berries for food pantry clients to enjoy later in the year.

There have been donations of cash – change deposited in cans set up in area stores, donations from banks, local businesses and individuals – and donations of a metal roof, plumbing supplies and labor, a freezer, refrigerator, windows, shelving and cabinets, and so much more.

The lot on which the pantry is being built was donated by an individual, and the town entered into a longterm lease agreement for an adjacent strip of property.

The Waterboro Community Pantry was conceived in fall 2014 after St. Stephen the Martyr Church closed and was sold to private interests. The pantry there, Food for Life, had filled a significant need since 1984. In 2012, the latest year that statistics were available for the now-defunct pantry, 1,050 families were served.

Statistics that Waterboro Community Pantry folks compiled in November from the U.S. Census show that 8.4 percent of Waterboro residents live below the poverty level. Of those, 10.5 percent were younger than 18, and 11.5 percent were age 65 or older.

Cleo Smith, a longtime volunteer at Food for Life, began a quest to build a pantry in town. So far, there are 54 volunteers – ranging in age from 17 to 93, she said – involved in the effort. On Tuesday, Smith said $41,000 has been raised since the Waterboro Community Pantry received its official nonprofit status in May 2015.

On Saturday, 16 volunteers got together to help construct the building, and 14 worked Sunday.

George Harnois, a retired contractor, is the volunteer clerk for the project.

“We got the interior and exterior walls framed, and we’re working on the stair stringers,” he said. “We’re now waiting to get a volunteer group to get the roof trusses up.”

The weekend crew was organized by Mike Fries, a builder who knows Harnois through St. Matthew Church in Limerick and the church’s active Knights of Columbus group.

Fries said last weekend’s volunteers included Knights of Columbus members and others. “It was just a bunch of good-hearted folks who wanted to help,” he said.

Fries said the crew ranged from an 86-year-old to a couple in their 20s. “In these kind of projects, you always get back more than you give,” he said.

Smith said the volunteers were supplied with plenty of water, and local businesses contributed lunch. One discounted lunch costs by 50 percent for Saturday’s meal, while another supplied pizza for Sunday.

“The more you ask, the more willing people are to help,” she said.

Smith, fresh from picking 30 pound of blueberries donated by a nearby u-pick with three teen helpers, said fundraising efforts continue. Costs have gone up from original estimates – like the foundation, which came in at $1,100 more.

The latest fundraiser will be a calendar featuring photographs of Waterboro taken by a young man who donated his work to the effort, she said.

There may be more days when Smith or one of the other volunteers shows up with a donation bucket at the town’s transfer station on a busy Saturday morning, asking folks if they’d care to contribute. One weekend, Smith said, $400 was raised toward the project that way.

Her own determination has earned her the nickname “relentless,” she confessed.

Smith is aiming for an opening sometime in August, but that depends on how the cash flows. Much work remains – a well must be drilled and a septic system installed, and the building needs finishing, wiring and a host of other details.

The building is designed to look like a cabin, with a front porch.

“We want it to be warm and inviting and not industrial,” said Smith, hoping the homey atmosphere will make it less daunting for those who find it difficult to admit they need help.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].