The winter months are always the busiest season for the Boothbay Region Food Pantry’s directors and volunteers. Fortunately, the pantry recently received donations from several sources. Many of the hotels in the region, having closed for the winter, gave the remaining contents of their refrigerators to the pantry. This is particularly helpful now, as seasonal employees have been laid off until next spring.  In addition, departing summer residents again this year brought bags of food to the pantry after cleaning out their own refrigerators and cabinets.

Generous individuals are the backbone of donors to the food panty.  Among them is a woman from Southport who recently found  $102 in cash that someone had dropped while shopping. The store returned the money to her after a two-week interval with no inquiries, and she gave it to the food pantry, saying, “I’d like to turn it over to those who need it more than I.”

If you would like to make a monetary donation to the food pantry, please send your check to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry, P.O. Box 63, East Boothbay, ME 04544. Food contributions also are welcome. Please leave unopened boxes or cans that are within or close to their sell-by dates at the new drop-off box near the pantry door in the lower parking lot of the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church.

In September, the pantry provided emergency four-day food supplies and more to 94 families, helping to feed 204 family members. Again in October, 94 region residents visited the pantry, enabling it to assist 197 family members during the month. Numbers served likely will increase somewhat in the last two months of 2016 and are expected to soar during the bitterly cold months to follow.

Information for clients

The Boothbay Region Food Pantry is located in the lower level of the Congregational Church at 125 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor.  It is open every Friday from noon to 2 p.m. and is accessible to people in wheelchairs. If local schools are closed because of weather conditions, the pantry also is closed.  The food pantry is also open on the second Monday of each month from 4:30 to 6 p.m. 

If you have a food emergency, call the food pantry’s telephone number:  207-350-2962. The pantry serves residents in the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb.  New clients should provide proof of residency, such as your car registration, a recent utility bill, lease, or rent receipt.  Clients should bring their own bags and boxes.

The Good Shepherd Food Bank’s food truck will be in the upper parking lot of the Congregational Church on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Dec. 14 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The food mobile’s food is free to anyone in need of food assistance. Don’t forget to bring bags and boxes to carry your selections.

McSeagull’s Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor will serve Thanksgiving dinner free again this year on Thanksgiving Day from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monetary donations are welcome, but not mandatory. Call 633-5900 for reservations

If you plan to cook Thanksgiving dinner, be sure to sign up at the pantry by Friday, Nov. 11 for a Thanksgiving box of food tailored to your family’s size.  You will then be welcome to pick up a box of all that your family will need for a festive holiday meal on Saturday, Nov. 19 between 10 a.m. and noon. There will be no regular food pantry hours on the day after Thanksgiving.