This week is pretty much going to be a Winthrop Food Pantry week on the blog. Lately, there’s been a lot happening at both our food pantry and in the larger world of organizations dedicated to feeding people.

I’ve been volunteering at the Winthrop Food Pantry since 1997, a long time. Over the years, I’ve seen a change in directors; a change in the amount of food—much less—available at the Good Shepherd Food Bank; and a change in the number of people—it has almost doubled—coming to our food pantry. Right now times are hard in Maine, as they are in the rest of the country. With chains and big-box stores being the primary employers in the state, it has become increasingly difficult to find employment that offers steady hours, good pay, and benefits such as health care. People, being resourceful, manage to cobble together a life, but for those who earn low wages, there is the constant stress of worrying about how to make ends meet, and it shows on the tired faces of so many of the recipients who come to the food pantry.

Winthrop is a very middle-class community, but it is a generous one, and the food pantry gets enough in donations so that it can pay the bills and buy food. (The food pantry also serves the community of Wayne, which is much smaller than Winthrop.) Last Saturday, there was an open house at the Winthrop Food Pantry for our donors. The trusty band of food pantry volunteers provided plenty of good food, and tours were given. About 10 people came, and they were impressed with how neat and clean and organized the pantry is. They were also impressed with the selection of food on the shelves. As my husband, Clif, noted, even if only a 10 people came to the event, the word will get out, and perhaps next year more people will come.

In the meantime, the volunteers at the Winthrop Food Pantry will continue to do what they have done for years and years. They will get food and stock shelves and take people around and package food and make Winthrop and Wayne more food secure for many families.