BUCKSPORT, Maine — Food was destroyed at a local pantry after flooding that could cost as much as $30,000 to repair.
Bucksport Community Concerns had much of its dry goods on pallets that kept them out of the rainwater, but some frozen food was lost when a freezer was knocked out by repeated basement flooding at Elm Street Congregational Church. Other goods were lost, too, said Marsha Mushrall, co-president of the volunteer community aid group.
“It wasn’t catastrophic. It was just work,” Mushrall said. “We lost some toys, some food, some books.”
Rev. Stephen York said the church basement leaked primarily due to age. The church was built in 1838 and added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1990.
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A construction company finished repairing the foundation and will be replacing sheetrock and other items damaged by the flooding, which began about eight weeks ago and occurred intermittently — usually after heavy rain, York and Mushrall said.
Sump pumps have been installed, he said.
Food insecurity is not as much of a problem in Hancock County as it is in other areas of Maine, but it is still a chronic issue.
The county was ranked 10 th in 2016 among Maine counties for food insecurity, with 13.6 percent of its 54,483 people — or 7,390 people — facing it, according to feedingamerica.org.
The state average is 13.8 percent of its 1.3 million residents — or 183,310 residents — with Piscataquis County being the worst for food insecurity, with 16.4 percent, and Sagadahoc County suffering from it the least, with 12 percent.
The volunteer organization gave food, toys, clothing, heating oil assistance and other goods to 117 families so far over the Christmas holiday, officials said.
The group serves 50 to 100 families a month, Mushrall said.
The church moved Community Concerns into another part of the church and will move the group back once repairs are finished. The church has filed a claim with its insurer for the damage done, York said.
Anyone interested can mail tax-deductible contributions to Bucksport Community Concerns, P.O. Box 603, Bucksport, Maine 04416, or to the church at 31 Elm St, Bucksport, ME 04416.