NEW LONDON, Conn. — About five months ago, the New London Area Food Pantry board was told they’d need to be out of their current building on Truman St. by the end of December.
The pantry has been sharing the space with OIC (Opportunities Industrialization Center of New London County, Inc.) for 30 years. Now, OIC needs the space back for an expansion of its programs. It’s something the pantry’s President, Scott Ramsay, said they had expected at some point, just not this early.
“I started looking at other properties around New London about two years ago. I probably looked at over 35 properties. Many of them were warehouses or just didn’t satisfy our requirements,” Ramsay said.
Ramsay started to feel hopeless, with the threat of potentially having to close the pantry. Then, he gained a new driver at the pantry who just so happened to be the commander of VFW Post 189 in New London. That commander, Felix Santana, told Ramsay about an extra space they had at the VFW.
The two went to see it together the next day.
“My jaw dropped when I walked in the building and I said to him, I said, ‘This has everything we need. It satisfies all of my criteria for the new space,’” Ramsay said.
Then, the ball started rolling from there. After getting approval from the city’s planning and zoning division, the move was made official.
“The whole idea of it being a win-win partnership. You know, we need space, they need a revenue stream that they can continue to operate with. So it was a win-win,” Ramsay said.
On top of the deadline to get out, Ramsay said the operation has outgrown the space, with nearly 230 families stopping by for food each week.
“We needed more space. You can see it’s tight in this space for our volunteers and for our guests. We needed something that was open if we’re going to do client choice the right way. We needed space where we could have walk-ins, straight off the street. People who didn’t have to come down a dangerous set of stairs to come into the building,” Ramsay said.
In their current space, the pantry has bottleneck issues, with guests having to go through multiple rooms to collect food. There’s also only one entry and exit point for deliveries: the window of the room holding the perishable items.
“Everything goes out through this window. We bring in about 8,000 pounds of food a week through that window,” Ramsay said.
With the need jumping by 41% within the last year at the pantry, it was time for a change.
“The need is staggering. The need for food has exploded since COVID began and since the worst of COVID has ended,” said Jeanne Milstein, Director of Human Services for the City of New London.
As the number four most distressed municipality in the state, Milstein said she is seeing more and more seniors and children who are dealing with food insecurity.
“Not only are we trying to provide food and meals in our distribution in our pantries, but diapers are in great demand because SNAP, which is food benefits, does not cover diapers for children or for adults. And they’re very expensive,” Milstein said. “So we also, when we can, distribute diapers in our food distribution or have them available at our pantries.”
The City of New London works with its partners at FRESH New London and the Ledge Light Health District to host weekly food distributions every Wednesday at the senior center.
There is also the New London Community Meal Center, which serves prepared meals every weekday, Sunday night, and on every 3rd, 4th, and 5th Saturday of the month.
As for The New London Area Food Pantry, it’s set to be back open and operational by Jan. 8, 2024.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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