Westborough Rallies Behind Food Pantry

Wednesday, the Westborough Food Pantry had 10 cases of cake mix.

About 10 days earlier, there were none.

"In the last week, we've probably, since the article in the Patch, we've had numerous spontaneous food drives by individuals and companies, that have brought in I would guess in excess of maybe 8,000 to 9,000 pounds of food," Director Phil Kittredge said Wednesday at the food pantry, at the Forbes Community Building, 9 East Main St.

"It's just been tremendous. Not to mention the cash donations, and the checks. We had one individual that brought in a donation for $500, and then he went to Stop & Shop and bought $500 of brand-new food. We've had multiple checks from businesses that heard about our plight.

"To me, I just can't believe how generous the civic groups are. The schools have all had food drives. When the word got out that we were low, everyone just stepped up and increased their donations, increased their food drives, by probably 10-fold. We are probably all set now for maybe the next two or three months."

"We had this situation happen probably about five or six years ago. And the same thing happened then: everybody stepped up. People heard, and they just responded dramatically, which is what happened this time."

In the story, Kittredge said the food pantry was " the lowest we've ever, ever been on food, only because we have the most clients we've ever had."

At that time, the food pantry was serving 116 families, compared to around 80 last year.

As part of the recent community support, the Rotary Club of Westborough has donated money for another new freezer, Kittredge said.

"We've been limited in the past, where even Roche Bros. has offered us frozen items but we can only take so many. We don't have a lot of room for it. We need the extra freezer because we have so many more clients," he said.

The food pantry hopes to have the freezer running at the end of next week, Kittredge said.

Last week, the food pantry distributed more than 100 Thanksgiving food baskets to its clients, he said.

The Westborough Fire Department bought all of the vegetables, as the firefighters have for about 15 years, Kittredge said.

"To feed 100 families, that's a lot of vegetables, and they work with Stop & Shop. Stop & Shop gives them a discount on the food," he said.

"Stop & Shop helps out. But it's the firefighters that really take the initiative to go and buy it all, to order it and to go bring it here."

Roche Bros. donated 115 turkey certificates, Kittredge said. The food pantry purchased hams for clients that don't eat turkey.

The food pantry accepts donations during its hours, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, at 9 East Main St.