This story is part of The Sentinel’s annual News & Nourishment campaign, which is raising money throughout August for area food pantries. To donate, visit thecommunitykitchen.org/donate.
The Community Kitchen’s mobile food pantry is now fully up and running, after two years in a pilot stage.
The program aims to eliminate transportation issues or other barriers for people in the Monadnock Region who are considered food insecure, meaning they lack access to enough food for a healthy lifestyle.
Patrons of The Community Kitchen in Keene would often tell workers they had trouble accessing the pantry because of those reasons, according to Kate Leversee, director of operations.
“The idea was to bring food into those regions,” she said, “and serve as a hub here from 37 Mechanic Street.”
In 2022, almost 11 percent of Cheshire County residents were food insecure, according to the most recent data from Feeding America, a national food access organization. This makes the county’s food insecurity rates higher than the state average of roughly 10 percent, the same data show.
Like the pilot years, the mobile food pantry will continue to be offered in a farmers’ market style, with tables and pop-up tents set up in area communities, according to Leversee. But now, she said towns will have more consistent access to the pantry, with several events slated through late fall.
The pantry already hosted an event in Richmond late last month, which Leversee said was well attended, with nearly 80 families stopping by for assistance compared to less than 50 last year.
In addition to Richmond, the pantry will be focusing on Fitzwilliam, Gilsum and Winchester to ensure this program reaches “as many community members as possible who may be experiencing food insecurity,” according to Leversee. And despite their locations, she added any Monadnock Region resident is able to attend these events.
A feasibility study for the program, conducted by The Community Kitchen in 2021, showed the mobile food pantry would partially address a “serious service gap” in the region, given lack of transportation and limited local pantry hours.
“In addition, the Monadnock Region is characterized by many more remote communities that have no food store or only a high-priced convenience store with very limited selection of fresh produce,” the report reads.
The pantry will be available in the targeted communities on the following dates:
Fitzwilliam — Saturday, Aug. 17, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Emerson School at 27 Rhododendron Rd.
Gilsum — Saturday, Aug. 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Gilsum STEAM Academy at 640 Route 10.
Winchester — Sunday, Sept. 15, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the ELMM Community Center at 21 Durkee St.
Leversee said those interested can expect to receive shelf-stable items, as well as bread products, frozen proteins, fresh vegetables and, when feasible, dairy products, all of which are locally sourced whenever possible. The pantry will also provide recipe suggestions for people who don’t cook often, she noted.
Participants will be asked to fill out a form at the event to report their income. Otherwise, the only requirement is to show proof of residence, whether that’s with a license or piece of mail with their street address listed.
Leversee added, though, that those stipulations will not prevent people from receiving food at the event.
“Anyone who shows up will leave with a box,” she said.
After those scheduled events conclude, Leversee said the kitchen will be investing in food drops in those same communities, with leaders from those towns then facilitating food distribution events.
Each community will receive two of these food drops between mid-September and the end of November, according to Leversee.
The hope, she added, is this model will provide more consistent food to these areas than the kitchen can provide alone. From its Keene headquarters, The Community Kitchen offers a food pantry, hot meals and take-home food boxes to Monadnock Region residents of low income. The nonprofit assists thousands of community members annually.
Pam Bielunis, Richmond’s welfare administrator, said the mobile food pantry events are needed because of the distance residents need to travel to get to the closest grocery store.
“This is not a limited income thing,” she said. “The food insecurity here is because of the distance we have to go to get anything because some people don’t have cars or don’t have the time. It’s a commitment to go to Market Basket; you’re talking an hour round-trip, and then the shopping.”
Kim Berk, director of Winchester’s ELMM Community Center, echoed Bielunis, saying transportation is also a barrier for some Winchester residents.
She added that offering these pantries more often now will help make these resources more accessible.
