After all the work prospective Eagle Scout Kyle Goan did on the Westbrook Food Pantry’s new space near St. Hyacinth’s, the volunteers at the food pantry are decidedly grateful.
Goan is happy to have been able to help, and now he’s hoping the work he did will earn him his Eagle Scout badge.
It was the last project Goan had to do to qualify for Eagle Scout after completing the 21 merit badges required by Boy Scouts of America to reach rank. His work is done, and now he just has to wait and see if the council overseeing granting Eagle Scout badges will approve it.
Over the course of the move, Goan gathered volunteers from his Scout troop and acquired donations of material from local businesses, and then the group cleaned and painted the new space.
He said they washed the walls and repaired holes in the walls, which he said were extremely dirty. They also ripped out coat racks and painted the walls and cabinets. Meanwhile, Allan Bickford from the city supervised the entire project and oversaw city workers ripping up the carpeting, repairing some of the ceiling and removing asbestos.
For the move, Goan and his crew, which included his parents, helped transfer the food from the old pantry near the Dana Warp Mill to the new one at 22 Walker St., up the street from St. Hyacinth’s.
After the walls were painted, Nancy Goan painted a mural commemorating her son’s work at the pantry. “That was really a very nice effort to cheer up the place,” said pantry volunteer Jeanne Rielly of Goan’s efforts. She said the help moving the food made things much quicker than they would have been.
“For the clients, it’s a more welcoming space with lights and comfortable chairs,” said Rielly. Services haven’t changed, she said, but the space is about twice the size as the old space and more comfortable for families in need waiting to be able to shop.
Rielly said the pantry will continue to offer food products such as cereal, peanut butter, canned vegetables and fruit, baked beans, and powdered milk when available, along with fresh fruits and vegetables donated by Hannaford and breads donated from a variety of local businesses. Rielly said that although the pantry is in a church-owned building, the pantry is not associated with St. Anthony’s parish, and its services are available to everyone regardless of religious affiliation.
Now that the pantry is fully operational again after its move, Goan is working on a final report for the Scout council that will judge whether he should receive his Eagle Scout badge.
“I’m hoping to get my Eagle Scout badge by the end of the summer,” he said. “But it all depends on the people approving it.”
The Westbrook Food Pantry is open on Tuesdays from noon to 2 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The entrance to the pantry is in the rear of 22 Walker St. in the former St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop, which has moved its operations upstairs according to pantry volunteer Cindy Murphy.
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