Area Pantries Receive Funding

By Olivia Belanger
THE KEENE SENTINEL
With rising food costs and a recent decline in donations stinting budgets at local food pantries, a three-year grant from the Monadnock United Way will help them expand their outreach.

The recently announced grant — $90,000 in 2023, $95,000 in 2024 and $100,000 in 2025 — was awarded to the Monadnock Food Pantries Collective, made up of nine local organizations.

The Community Kitchen in Keene is overseeing the collective, which consists of the Mechanic Street pantry, as well as: Joan’s Food Pantry in Chesterfield, Jaffrey Food Pantry, Helping Hands in Troy, Rindge Food Pantry, Federated Church of Marlborough Food Pantry, Kidz Cupboard in Marlborough, Gert’s Pantry in West Swanzey and St. Vincent De Paul Society in Keene.

The collective started in 2019, but was “disrupted to a great extent with the pandemic,” according to Sarah Harpster, executive director of The Community Kitchen.

Now with this funding, Harpster said the collective is doubling down on its mission to decrease food insecurity in the Monadnock Region, with initiatives such as working together on meal distribution and continuing its mobile food pantry.

More than 9 percent of Cheshire County residents are considered food insecure, meaning they do not know where their next meal is coming from, according to 2020 data from Feeding America, a national food access organization. This puts Cheshire County the fifth among the state’s 10 counties. Coos County has the highest food insecurity rate at 12.2 percent, the latest available data show.

Harpster explained that, by working together, the local pantries can ensure all residents receive the healthiest food available, regardless of their location.

“For example, if there is a big purchase we do in Keene and we can get bulk pricing, we can share that and all go in together on purchases of healthy food,” she said.

The funding will also go toward operational costs, which vary between organizations. Generally, that includes employee salaries, transportation, utilities and equipment, according to a news release from The Community Kitchen.

Harpster said some of the money will be used to cover The Community Kitchen’s mobile food pantry, which just finished its pilot season of bringing groceries to area residents. The program aims to eliminate transportation issues or other barriers for people who are food insecure.

The nonprofit started with “pop-up” pantries, with additional funding still needed for it to launch its full-service van. Rather than serving food from a van, the pop-up events were “farmer’s market” style, Harpster said previously, with tables and pop-up tents.

Since this summer, 191 people were served through those events, according to Harpster. The organization now needs to figure out next steps for the mobile pantry, she noted.

Harpster added that this funding is a huge help for local pantries because of high food prices and a lack of cash and food donations in the last year.

But, she said this money will only stretch so far.

“We’re looking for a lot of community support heading into the holidays from individuals, businesses and communities alike,” she said in the news release from The Community Kitchen. “We understand everyone is going through this inflationary period together, but we’re optimistic that we can all pull together to address this threat to our food security.”

The $285,000 from the United Way is part of the nonprofit’s $2 million in investments for the 2023-2025 funding cycle, according to a news release from the agency last week.

In addition to the collective, the United Way’s release says three-year grants were awarded to the Monadnock Alliance for Families ($223,650 per year) to provide home visiting, enrichment opportunities for young children and parent education; the Monadnock Region Afterschool Collective (roughly $106,000 per year); and the Cheshire County Emergency Housing Collaborative ($76,309 per year).

Five early learning centers also received funding through 2025 to provide childcare tuition assistance to families in need: Keene Day Care Center ($30,000 per year); the Winchester Early Learning Center ($29,925 per year); Hillsboro Child Development Center ($14,250 per year); Walpole Village School ($4,988 per year); and Monadnock Community Early Learning Center in Peterborough ($29,400 in 2023, $30,870 in 2024 and $32,400 in 2025).

The United Way is also giving $14,250 per year to Southwestern Community Services in Keene and, in 2025, will award the Elm City’s Rise for Baby and Family $128,000 to help multiple day care centers implement a child care support framework called the pyramid model.

The Community Kitchen can be reached at 352-3200. A list of food pantries in and around the Monadnock Region is available at foodpantries.org/ci/nh.

Funding for the Monadnock Region Health Reporting Lab comes from several sources, including The Sentinel and several local businesses and private donors. We continue to seek additional support. The newsroom maintains full editorial control over all content produced by the lab.

Olivia Belanger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @OBelangerKS.

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