Thanks to an outpouring of support from seasonal and year-round residents as well as from local businesses, churches and summer community associations, the Boothbay Region Food Pantry recovered from its early summer financial doldrums.

The pantry’s directors would like to express their profound gratitude and admiration for the community’s strong commitment to reduce hunger on the peninsula. The Boothbay region’s legendary generosity to its needy neighbors has enabled the pantry to concentrate on its mission rather than on fundraising for nearly 28 years.

Donations made last summer enabled the food pantry: to revert in July to its practice of giving clients two vouchers each month, redeemable at our local Hannaford for milk, eggs, bread, and butter or margarine; and to provide clients with generous supplies of nutritious food during Friday open hours in June, July, and August.

Almost all of the donated funds are used to buy food. The pantry has only a few administrative expenses, chiefly, postage and mileage reimbursement for directors’ trips to Good Shepherd’s warehouses, Wal-Mart and other grocery providers.

The Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor generously provides the pantry with space, electricity, and heat at no cost. When items such as a new refrigerator or freezer are needed, the pantry relies on raising the required funds through foundation grants.

Two innovative programs added to the pantry’s offerings of fresh food last summer at no cost to the pantry’s bank account. A community garden sponsored by the Boothbay Region Community Resource group, in a field made available by a local family was planted, weeded and harvested by volunteers, including some pantry clients. It has produced an abundance of potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, onions, squashes and other vegetables, all of it much appreciated by local families.

In addition, the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, for a second year, has funded a voucher program that gives clients access to a wide variety of food products at Boothbay’s farmers market and at a local farm stand. All participants continue to be delighted with an arrangement that increases business for the food producers while offering excellent food choices to pantry clients.

The Boothbay Region Food Pantry served an average of 82 families comprising 194 family members during each of the three summer months of 2013, up from an average of 71 families with 164 family members in 2012.

With the advent of cold weather and a spike in unemployment due to the closing of seasonal businesses in the region, the number of people coming monthly to the pantry is likely to increase. Additional donations from the community will continue to be needed, requested — and, we trust, received!

Please send a check, if you are able, to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry, P.O. Box 63, East Boothbay, ME 04544. Canned, boxed, or bottled goods may be left either inside or outside the parking-lot door of the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor. Many thanks in advance.

Information for clients

The Boothbay Region Food Pantry is located in the lower level of the Congregational Church at One Eastern Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. The pantry is open each Friday from noon to 2 p.m. Clients will not be admitted to the pantry waiting area until 11:30 a.m. Clients wishing only to pick up food from the tables supplied weekly by Hannaford and by local gardeners may begin to do so until 15 minutes before closing.

If you can’t make it to regular open hours or if you have a food emergency, call the church at 207-633-4757 during normal office hours or, at other times, call Fleet Davies at 207-350-4077. The pantry serves the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb. New clients should provide proof of residency, such as a recent utility bill, lease or rent receipt.