WINSLOW —  To meet an increasing need across central Maine, the Winslow Community Cupboard on Lithgow Street has bought a larger building and is raising money to build a cooler and freezer inside to hold pallets of food.

“My hope is to definitely be in there before winter because I don’t want to have to have everyone standing outside in the winter,” cupboard Director Bruce Bottiglierie said.

The cupboard now is located in a small building on the grounds of the Winslow Congregational Church at 12 Lithgow St. The organization built a deck outside, on which sit two walk-in coolers and freezers. Volunteers, mostly older adults, must physically unload pallets of food and do a lot of lifting, Bottiglierie said.

A new home for growing needs

Food pantry officials bought a building at 26 Lithgow St. that’s approximately 6,500 square feet and has seven garage bays that can accommodate a large freezer and cooler for pallets of food, he said. A $50,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation enabled the cupboard to buy an electric forklift to move those pallets inside. Shelving for pallets also will be built with that money.

The cupboard is seeking to raise $150,000 to build a freezer and a cooler big enough to hold 32 pallets.

“Good Shepherd Food Bank inspected the building Monday, and they have approved for us to start storing shelf-stable items — cereal, cold goods, canned vegetables and fruits, pasta — anything that doesn’t need refrigeration or a freezer,” Bottiglierie said Wednesday. “The biggest  excitement about this new building is, we’re finally going to be out of the elements. We just can’t wait to hopefully be able to drive pallets in there, and that’ll be a lot less lifting on the part of elderly volunteers.”

The cupboard lost 30,000 pounds of food, a forklift and mechanical equipment during the December 2023 Kennebec River flood.

About two-thirds of the building will be used for food, and the rest for fundraising activities including a yard sale on Saturdays that now is held inside the adjacent church. Each time they hold a sale, volunteers have to set up and dismantle the items, and they will not have to do that in the new building, Bottiglierie said. Yard sale proceeds have averaged $1,800 a month.

The yard sale is vital, he said, because with the new building comes a mortgage. The organization is going to have to rely on the fundraising committee to run through the numbers to pay that loan, Bottiglierie said.

The cupboard’s largest fundraiser will be a drive-in laser light show to be held at 5 p.m. July 31 and Aug. 1 and 2 at the Clinton fairgrounds. This year the event on Friday and Saturday will include crafters, yard sales, food trucks and concession stands. Admission is $29 a carload. Bottiglierie said officials expect to raise $10,000.

When the cupboard opened in 2020, 40 people came to get food; this past week, 300 stopped by, Bottiglierie said, adding that about 40% of recipients are older than 60. Some people walk to the cupboard, some ride bicycles, and some drive, he said.

The cupboard has more than 2,200 clients from 36 communities in its database; 29.1% of the clientele come from Waterville; 23.9%, from Winslow; 7.6%, Oakland; 6.8%, Fairfield; and 6%, Clinton. So far this year, it has given out 1.39 million pounds of food, Bottiglierie said.

“We were No. 2 in the state last year for food banks, as far as the amount of food given out to clients — we call them ‘neighbors’ now,” he said. “ We had our biggest serving this past Thursday — we did 300 families in six hours, right at the food pantry. We opened at 8 a.m. and I got there at 5:45 a.m., and there were already 20 cars in line.”

‘We have to slow down our eating’

One of those neighbors is Melissa Woodbury, a single mother, who volunteers at the Winslow cupboard to help fulfill a federal government requirement to qualify to receive food stamps.

The 54-year-old Waterville woman cares for her two adult children with special needs, as well as for a nephew who lives with them. About five months ago, she said, their food stamp allowance was reduced from $500 to $300.

“They want my son to work, and he has a lot of mental health problems,” she said. “They cut my son off. He’s 33 but he has a lot of problems, and he can’t work.”

Woodbury said the family wouldn’t survive without food from the food pantry. When their food stamps were cut, they were forced to eat less, she said.

“We have kind of a hard time at the end of the month, so we have to slow down our eating.”

Furthermore, she said, she is being asked to fill out paperwork online for her son to volunteer so he can get his portion of food stamps returned.

“They want me to go on the computer, but I don’t have a computer,” she said.

It is tough, trying to make ends meet, Woodbury said, with rising food prices and lots of family needs.

“I have so much on my shoulders,” she said.

Bottiglierie said people are coming to the cupboard to ask if they can volunteer so their food stamps don’t get taken away.

Eligibility guidelines, he said, don’t take into account the fact that people have car, insurance and rent payments as well as other bills.

Bottiglierie said the cupboard is helping a large number of people who have moved to the area from other countries.

“They have 10 people in their family, and 12. I think one family last week had 14.”

The cupboard also helps smaller food cupboards and plans to become a hub for area food banks that now get only one delivery a month and will be able to pick up food at Winslow, Bottiglierie said.

“We’re trying to eliminate hunger in Maine, and if we can share what we have and help other food banks, it’s a win-win for us,” he said.

The cupboard receives most of its food from Good Shepherd, applies for grants and receives donations. It also gets sponsorships from companies that advertise on the cupboard’s food trailers that, partnering with Good Shepherd, travel throughout Somerset, Kennebec, Waldo and Piscataquis counties. Food also is donated by Hannaford, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Sunrise Bagel, Cumberland Farms, Rusty Lantern Market and Bimbo Bakeries.

A calendar showing when and where the trailers go is listed on the cupboard’s website, wccpantry.com, which also has a donation button. Donors also may send checks to Winslow Community Cupboard, 26 Lithgow St., Winslow, ME 04901, with a note that the contribution is for the cooler or building fund.

The cupboard is open for people to pick up food from 8 a.m.-noon, the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, and its summer hours are 4-6 p.m. those days.

People don’t just receive a box of food, but can choose from as many as 80 items, which helps to eliminate food waste, Bottiglierie said. As part of a separate program, Community Freedge, people also may get food from a refrigerator on the property, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Freedge is a worldwide program whereby food is made available in refrigerators placed in communities. People may donate food to the fridge.