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Date: 11/17/2021
SOUTHWICK — Residents in Southwick, Granville and Tolland are not immune to hunger issues. When they need food assistance, they rely on a nonprofit food pantry called Our Community Food Pantry.
“We never turn anyone away who needs food,” said Sally Munson, the pantry’s director. She said hunger and food needs are often associated with urban communities or poor, third-world countries, but it’s also an issue for residents of suburban and rural areas.
“People are people. It doesn’t matter where you live – we all can have the same issues,” she said. Munson explained that many of her clients don’t have transportation and have very expensive rents.
“The cost of living is rising – especially for gas, electric, and oil heating,” said Munson. “Older people may own their own home, but can’t afford to heat it or afford to make repairs. They often go without food to stay home and feel independent.”
Created 10 years ago, Our Community Food Pantry operates out of a rented house in Southwick. It depends on more than a dozen volunteers to distribute approximately 10,000 pounds of food each month to needy residents.
Couples and singles make up 58 percent of the pantry’s clients. The remaining 42 percent are families with children – a change from two years ago.
“Before COVID, we saw more families with children. But they’re making fewer visits now, because of all the extra government support they’re getting. We’re finding more older people on fixed incomes needing our support,” said Munson.
She added that Our Community Food Pantry is also seeing an increase in grandparents raising grandchildren, older people moving in with children and vice versa.
“Each situation is different,” she said.
Monetary donations are the pantry’s biggest need.
“We need funds so we can offer our clients a healthy variety of food,” Munson said.
Munson and part-time program coordinator Meg Raggio work hard to serve clients with dignity and compassion.
“We believe that just because people need our help doesn’t mean they need to eat rice, beans, canned veggies, and out-of-date produce,” she said.
To help raise money for Our Community Food Pantry, Westfield’s two largest supermarkets – Stop & Shop, 57 Main St., and Big Y, 475 E. Main St. – are donating one dollar for every reusable bag sold during November.
“We also need about 200 reusable shopping bags for our Thanksgiving distribution. This fundraiser could be a real win-win,” said Munson. “Buy a bag, use it, then donate it to us. We not only get a bag, but also a dollar toward our future expenses.”
Another fundraising event will take place later this month at Westfield River Brewing Company in Southwick. It will donate a percentage of beer sales in its taproom on Saturday evening, Nov. 26.
The food pantry is also collecting any soft clothing, blankets, and bedding to sell at Savers in West Springfield to buy food for clients. In addition, a winter clothing drive for its clients runs until Dec. 18.
Munson said Our Community Food Pantry primarily buys groceries and fresh produce locally. Meat is usually purchased at the Restaurant Depot warehouse in Chicopee – a wholesale cash-and-carry food service supplier that sells products at low prices to independent restaurants and nonprofits.
“We always try to shop ahead at least three months,” she added. “But we tend to run short of different food options as we get closer to Christmas.”
When COVID-19 hit, it created new challenges. Food needs increased, but the pantry had to stop all incoming donations due to safety protocols it implemented and a lack of volunteers to sort food.
“In the beginning, the unknown was the biggest challenge. We went from myself and Meg with 13 volunteers to just Meg and me. We changed our [pickup] operations from client choice to bag-and-go.”
Munson said the pantry introduced a beeper system similar to those used at restaurants. Clients would take a beeper and remain in their cars waiting their turn to use the pantry. The system made clients feel safe enough to come to the pantry while still maintaining social distancing.
“They realized we were going to take care of their needs and food was going to be available for them,” recalled Munson. “There have been some tough days, but I’m proud that we’ve never shut down during this pandemic.”
Although it recently returned to the client choice model for weekly in-person food visits, entry is still limited to one person at a time.
“We learned it’s a better model. When clients come in one at a time, we can better serve their individual needs,” said Munson.
The food pantry also has a Neighbor Helping Neighbor program. Friends can pick up food for neighbors who don’t have transportation. Similarly, Our Community Food Pantry began a new program this summer called “door dash.”
Every Monday, volunteers, along with Munson and Raggio, prepare bags of food for 21 seniors without transportation who live at Southwick’s two senior housing complexes.
Bread, rolls, cereal and other non-perishables go into grocery bags, while plastic bags are filled with refrigerated and frozen foods, including meat, milk, cheese and fresh produce.
“We don’t just give them something to eat every week, we give them a variety of foods. We try to tailor what we put in the bags, so they have items to make a meal — such as hamburger, cheese and rolls,” said Raggio.
Volunteer “door dashers” pick up bags at the food pantry for delivery. Some may make just one stop, while others truly do dash from door to door. Tracking ensures that all deliveries get to every senior’s door.
The pantry has piloted the door dash program with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts since Aug. 1.
“We thought they would only commit until the end of this year, but we’ve learned it will continue until at least the end of 2022,” said Munson. “We started with the senior housing complexes, but we hope to expand it to within a 10-mile radius of Southwick.”
Our Community Food Pantry also supports two programs for children with food needs: Healthy Summer and Beyond is for school-age children during summer and school vacations, and Snack Bag offers extra nutritious snacks to kids.
Six coalition volunteers created Our Community Food Pantry in 2011 after the Southwick Family Support Coalition closed because of significant state budget cuts. A food pantry was one of the coalition’s longest-standing programs, and volunteers wanted it to continue.
“They understood that the community’s most vulnerable residents had come to rely on the coalition’s assistance to meet basic food needs,” said Munson. \
Located at 220 College Highway in Southwick, the pantry’s hours of operation are 3-5 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Wednesday, and 5-6 p.m. Thursday. For more information, call 569-9876 or email directors@admin.community-food-pantry.org.