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Date: 8/24/2021
WESTHAMPTON – The Westhampton Food Bank that was first established at the start of the pandemic is making headway in a new location inside of the Westhampton Congregational United Church of Christ.
The pantry, which formed in March 2020 to assist people during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially started out as a loose community structure outdoors at the church. It had to move to the indoor church kitchen though after a bear began rummaging through the perishable donations.
According to Pat Miller, one of the volunteers for the pantry, the church had to move the bank’s location once again after the kitchen reopened earlier this summer. The new location of the pantry is inside the entry door on the street side of the church. When people go down those stairs, they will see signs leading to the new location at the end of the hall.
“It seems to really be working out just fine,” said Miller, regarding the church’s new location. “It’s really just around the other side of the church, so it’s not a whole lot different.”
The volunteers from the pantry began prepping for the new location in mid-June, and the pantry officially opened to the public at the beginning of July. With the new refrigerator all set up now, both perishable and non-perishable food items will be accepted as donations.
Miller said that people are still generously donating money to the pantry that is then used to purchase items that are needed. “We get fresh produce and eggs and those kinds of things locally,” said Miller. “We’ve actually had meat donations from local places, and we have the same hours, so people are able to keep up whatever schedule they had.”
The pantry’s current hours are 5 to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since reopening, Miller said that the installation of metal shelving for non-perishable food items has been one of the biggest benefits of the new location, especially for organization purposes. Other than that, much of the food pantry makeup and process has stayed the same.
During the heat of the pandemic, Miller said that people would donate other items outside of perishable/non-perishable goods, whether it be bathroom essentials like toilet paper or other kitchen items like sour dough starters. The current food pantry setup contains a lot of breakfast, lunch and dinner items like cereal, eggs, juice, beans, taco mix, etc.
According to the Westhampton Congregational Church Facebook page, people are asked to use the sheet inside the pantry to check off whether they have picked up items, dropped items off or did both.
The church website specifies that anyone in need of food can visit the food bank to pick up what they need. The pantry is anonymous and operates as a self-serve entity. Only one household is allowed in the pantry at a time due to COVID-19.
Miller said that the number of volunteers at the food bank varies because people sign up to volunteer at different times. For those interested in volunteering with the bank, they can do so by signing up through the link here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0544ada82ba5ff2-food.