A federal grant will allow the Gorham food pantry to move to a larger space to accommodate the growing number of families the pantry is serving.
Plans call for the food pantry, which has worked out of cramped space in the basement of St. Anne’s Church, to have its own building located on church property.
Tom Ellsworth, director of Gorham’s Economic Development Corp., said Tuesday that the food pantry had received a $44,000 Community Development Block Grant to move to a portable building donated by the town. The money will be used to construct a foundation, relocate the building and install utilities.
Paul Willis, chairman of the Gorham Ecumenical Food Pantry, said pantry storage space in the church has been cramped. “We’re trampling over multi-use space at St. Anne’s,” Willis said.
The town donated a building to the food pantry earlier this year. Willis hopes the portable building, which was previously used by the town’s planning department, would be moved by the end of this summer and open in the fall.
He said the food pantry, which has seen a rise in the number of clients in recent years, needed more space. Willis said the pantry served 181 adults and 110 children in 104 households in January. By contrast, the pantry served 138 adults and 68 children in February of last year.
Fran Doucette, director of the pantry, said Wednesday that the number of households served by the pantry has increased and the number of family members in the households has increased. “Our numbers have gone steadily up,” she said.
Doucette said the pantry is leasing the space for the building from St. Anne’s for $1 a year. “St. Anne’s has been wonderful to us,” she said.
Willis said he believes relocating to the new building would require fundraising in addition to the grant money, but the organization hasn’t determined yet what the total cost will be.
On behalf of the community, Ellsworth applied for $50,000. “We’ll stretch the $44,000 as much as possible,” said Ellsworth, who said bids would be solicited for the work. “It’s very competitive. To receive funding is an accomplishment.
Aaron Shapiro, administrator for the Community Development Block Grant program at Cumberland County, said the money would be available after July 1. Shapiro was developing a contract Tuesday between Gorham and the county.
Several churches banded together to start the food pantry, a nonprofit organization, in 1997. Willis said a board of directors was formed about six years ago to help organize and coordinate food distribution.
Willis said the pantry food storage is now a 73-square-foot area in the church. He said the limited space has been tough on volunteers. “The need is there,” Willis said about the move to its own space.
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