We've out grown our space. The Pantry needs a new home and we need your help!
We need a new Pantry; Shining a light on Food Insecurity in our Community.
The Pantry services about 230 Scituate families, 550 individuals; 24 of those families were new in 2018. We provided them with over 6,000 bags of food in 2017 and in 2018 we distributed 12,428 bags of food. In addition, about 700 Scituate families are food insecure. Food insecurity is used by the US Department of Agriculture to describe conditions in which the food intake of household members is reduced and their normal eating patterns are disrupted because the household lacks money and other resources for food. The family’s finances is the most obvious reason for food insecurity but other reasons include physical or mental limitations, living alone and lack of transportation. The latest available statistics show that about 10% of families in the Scituate area were food insecure in 2018.
Currently the Pantry is occupying the rear of The Masonic Temple, but we are fast outgrowing this space. If we are to continue to serve the growing needs of our community, we need to find a new location/home that can grow with us. In 2018 the Pantry joined the Greater Boston Food Bank network. This has enabled us to purchase fresh produce, refrigerated and frozen items at little to no cost. However, due to our limited space and facility restrictions, we are greatly limited as to the amount of fresh food we can order and provide to the people who need it.
With a new building of our own, we will have adequate space to expand not only the types of food we can offer, but also include additional services to our community. Some of these services we hope to offer are:
The Pantry services about 230 Scituate families, 550 individuals; 24 of those families were new in 2018. We provided them with over 6,000 bags of food in 2017 and in 2018 we distributed 12,428 bags of food. In addition, about 700 Scituate families are food insecure. Food insecurity is used by the US Department of Agriculture to describe conditions in which the food intake of household members is reduced and their normal eating patterns are disrupted because the household lacks money and other resources for food. The family’s finances is the most obvious reason for food insecurity but other reasons include physical or mental limitations, living alone and lack of transportation. The latest available statistics show that about 10% of families in the Scituate area were food insecure in 2018.
Currently the Pantry is occupying the rear of The Masonic Temple, but we are fast outgrowing this space. If we are to continue to serve the growing needs of our community, we need to find a new location/home that can grow with us. In 2018 the Pantry joined the Greater Boston Food Bank network. This has enabled us to purchase fresh produce, refrigerated and frozen items at little to no cost. However, due to our limited space and facility restrictions, we are greatly limited as to the amount of fresh food we can order and provide to the people who need it.
With a new building of our own, we will have adequate space to expand not only the types of food we can offer, but also include additional services to our community. Some of these services we hope to offer are:
- Provide appropriate space for a SNAP representative to meet with people in our community
- Private offices for processing new applicants to the Pantry
- Self shopping area for the people we serve to make the experience one with more choices.
What a new Pantry could look like!
Feasibility study and architectural designs provided by Designs by Marshall