MANCHESTER – Thanks to a generous donation from Hannaford Supermarket, Webster Elementary School is set to open a new food pantry to serve its students and families.
Webster Principal Meg Canning, Social Worker Stacey Evans and District Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel and Network Director Erin Murphy were on hand Tuesday at the North Side Plaza Hannaford store to accept the donation of $1,500 in gift cards. Evans, who is coordinating the efforts to open the food pantry, said it is all about meeting the needs of their school community.
“We are thankful to Hannaford for their generous donation of $1,500 in gift cards for the pantry,” Evans said. “With the help of partners like Hannaford, our mission is to stop the gap of food insecurity from Friday afternoons to Monday mornings.”
Webster was one of several schools that received a grant from the city’s Health Department this summer to start a food pantry. Through internal efforts and support from community partners, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the District has long worked to address food insecurity.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work that is underway in our schools and grateful for the support we are receiving to address this critical issue,” said Superintendent Chmiel. “Combined with our efforts to increase access to school breakfast, inclusion of culturally appropriate meal options, and emphasis on getting families in need connected to free or reduced meals, we are approaching this problem on multiple fronts. I’m eager to see these new in-school food pantries get up and running.”
In addition to Webster, Weston and Beech Street Elementary Schools, West High School and the Adult High School are planning to open food pantries this year. Those schools, plus Gossler Park Elementary and the Middle School at Parkside were recipients of the Health Department grant funding. Evans and Canning at Webster said they are hoping to have the food pantry set up by the start of 2025.
“Having this food pantry at Webster will greatly benefit our students and surrounding community,” Principal Canning said. “We are so thankful to Hannaford for supporting our food pantry and being an upstanding community partner with Webster Elementary School.”
Carl Provencher, the manager of the Hannaford location, said that after wrapping up renovations to the store, the main office provided money to donate to the community.
“We decided to help the Webster School with setting up this food pantry, and hopefully this $1,500 donation will allow them to get the food they need to help those that are food insecure in their community,” Provencher said.
Provencher said they also committed $1,500 to help Cawley Middle School in Hooksett, which like Webster is very close to the grocery store.
“These are our customers, these are our students that are food insecure,” he said. “We want to do what we can in our community to help those in need.”
If your family is experiencing food insecurity, you are encouraged to contact your school’s social worker to get connected to food resources. You can apply for free or reduced meal prices by completing the application at www.myschoolapps.com.