Families that depend upon the Biddeford Food Pantry to make ends meet are praying for a miracle that will allow the facility to remain open.
Earlier this month, volunteers at the food pantry learned that its landlord is raising the rent on the 2,240-square-foot facility from $790 to $2,200 per month, an expense which the nonprofit simply cannot afford.
The rent increase has forced the organization to scramble to find a solution, said Donald R. Bisson, president and manager of the Biddeford Food Pantry.
“We’ve been praying a lot every day,” Bisson said. “I pray that God will lead me in the right direction to go and that this mission doing God’s work will continue.”
According to Bisson, the landlord has extended the deadline for a decision from the food pantry from early November until the end of the year and also has offered to sell the building to the nonprofit for $250,000.
Bisson said that ideally the Biddeford Food Pantry would welcome the opportunity to stay at its current location and has committed $20,000 for a down payment toward purchasing the building.
“Our goal is to own this place,” he said. “But we don’t know what will happen. We’re hoping we can manage to do it.”
By purchasing the building, the nonprofit would no longer pay rent, but would still see a monthly increase of about $400 to make a $1,200 mortgage payment.
“I think we can afford that and we’ve made a request for financing, but we won’t know about that until possibly the end of this week,” Bisson said. “Now we’re waiting for approval.”
In the event that financing for the purchase is rejected, Bisson said the food pantry will have no alternative but to seek another place to rent in the city and be forced to move.
Biddeford Food Pantry was established in 1981 as the Friends of Community Action Food Pantry and is the oldest food pantry in the state of Maine.
Per its humanitarian policy, the food pantry will not refuse to help anyone who visits seeking assistance and has been at its current location for the past 12 years. Prior to that it was on Pierson Lane and before that was on Bacon Street in the city.
The food pantry is open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays, and is staffed by a team of 38 volunteers from the community.
Many local businesses such as Hannaford Supermarket, Walmart, Target and others donate perishable food items to the food pantry while numerous restaurants such as Dunkin Donuts, Biscuits & Co. and Reilly’s Bakery also contribute to the program. Most of the food it dispenses is purchased and then stored for distribution at the Elm Street site.
Bisson said food pantry participants often receive three weeks of food monthly including a large grocery bag of non-perishable items such as canned soups, canned veggies, canned fruits, pasta sauce, rice, and beans, a large banana box containing assorted breads, frozen meats, yogurts, potatoes, oatmeal, juices, hotdogs, muffins and other items, a large grocery bag of pastries, juices, oils, condiments, marinades, two gallons of bottled water and a gallon of milk. The actual quantity of food given out is determined by the number of people that are being fed.
To help the nonprofit raise money for either purchasing the building or to pay for a move, Bisson said a Biddeford Food Pantry GoFundMe page has been created.