“It’s been a godsent:” Milton Community Food Pantry opens doors to new facility
MILTON, Del. – “We’re able to store, pack, and distribute from this building. It’s been a godsent,” Milton Community Food Pantry Board President Donna Murawski said.
A storage pod, parking lots, and even church grounds; Those were just some of the many locations The Milton Community Food Pantry worked from to keep their clients fed. After a two-year stretch, they now have a new 1,500 square foot barn pole facility to call home. “We have the space. The refrigeration is here and the freezer’s right here,” Volunteer Nancy Richardson said.
“Our clients don’t have to wait as long and have a consistent place they can come. Our volunteers have a safer environment,” Murawski said.
The nonprofit hopes that with the new facility they can increase the number of distributions they have from twice a month to once a week. Yet, they’ll need the helping hands to do so. “If we can pull in all of those people in for a Monday morning, we’re probably talking about 25 people,” Richardson said. ” That means we will need a whole other crew so that the same people aren’t exhausted.”
Board President Donna Murawski said they’re in need of donations, as most of the grant funding they’ve received has been wiped out.
On top of that, they’re averaging $4,000-$5,000 in monthly expenses. “Many times, we run out of food during the distributions and will have to send a volunteer out for meat usually and even produce,” Murawski said.
The nonprofit has also seen a 50% increase in the number of clients they see just from last year.
Volunteer Nancy Richardson said that’s their fuel to keep push forward and they’re doing so one package at a time. “Two-weeks ago was our first distribution day and today was better than two-weeks ago. So, we’ll get better,” she said.
The nonprofit has just over half of the facility costs covered thanks to grants and donations but will have to take out a loan for the rest.
if you’d like to donate to their Capital Campaign Fund, you can check out their website here
