MANCHESTER, NH – In this time of need, some would say it takes a village to bridge the gaps that help people survive the rising cost of getting by.
However, ask the volunteers at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, which operates from the basement of Ste. Marie church, and they might tell you that a football team will also get the job done.
Last Friday West High School football coach Andrew Provencher saw to it that the small group of volunteers at the food pantry got some helping hands. When Provencher learned that the pantry had been inundated with requests for food – increasing the number of deliveries from the Food Bank and the number of trips up and down the pantry steps to drop the thousands of pounds of food earmarked for the community, he enlisted the help of some of his players, as well has his family.
When the Food Pantry van arrived with 2,000 pounds of canned and dry goods as well as produce, many hands made light work of the task – Provencher along with students Michael Spooner and Elias Abreu, both seniors and players on the West Knights football team, as well as his wife Pamela Provencher, her cousin Grady Cretien and her step-dad, Paul Cretien [see video below].
In the past few weeks demand for their food pantry services has tripled. Eloy Grenier, who has been volunteering for the organization for the past seven years, is the guy who usually carries food delivers from the New Hampshire Food Bank down into the basement pantry. There, food is sorted and then bagged-up for deliveries, which are distributed to families in need on the city’s West Side. The size and shape of the pantry, and the early 20th century steps, make it impossible to invite the public in to “shop” for food.
“We did 14 food deliveries [to the community] this week,” Grenier said last Friday, while waiting for another 2,000-pound food delivery to arrive.
In the past couple of weeks deliveries have tripled, says Jeannine Glazewski, who volunteers for the food pantry along with her husband, Vinnie, who serves as vice president for the organization.
“We assembled 20 bags of food yesterday and the remaining 14 bags are all going out this evening. Usually we deliver 20 – 24 bags a week on the West Side,” Glazewski said.
Weekly Food Bank orders normally range between 400-600 pounds to meet the need. Last Friday’s delivery was 2,000 pounds and another 1,900 pounds of food is expected this coming Wednesday.
“Our bags contain approximately 15 meals. In a given month records show we had been servicing 70-100 individuals. This month we are estimating that we are feeding 250-300 people. We’ve given out 120 bags over the past two weeks and with no SNAP – again – we’re expecting 60-70 or more bags delivered each of the coming weeks until this situation is settled,” Glazewski said.
She said that end-of-the-month requests usually increase as SNAP cards run out and while some people may have come because they were anticipating no more SNAP benefits, “if a caller says they have no food, it’s usually too true,” Glazewski said.
The Catholic Charities outreach is always looking for volunteers. You can learn more (or sign up) here.
Gallery by Carol Robidoux
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