The Belfast Soup Kitchen has expanded its food pantry operations into a new building, and launched a larger version of its Kindness Community Market on Wednesday.
The new space is set up like a grocery store, with an enlarged produce section, frozen and refrigerated goods, as well as dry goods.
Patrons can now choose items based on their needs once a week, rather than being limited to a set number of items based on family size.
“It’s a much more dignified way of getting food,” said Cherie Merrill, the soup kitchen’s executive director.
The expansion comes as demand for food assistance continues to grow in Waldo County. Last year, the organization served more than one in five Waldo County residents through its various anti-hunger programs, which include mini-pantries at health centers, produce distributions and a backpack program that sends food home with school children, Merrill said.
“We serve everyone,” Merrill said.
That includes seniors on fixed incomes who come to the soup kitchen for a meal and company, homeless people, people with disabilities, and, increasingly, families that have two working parents but still can’t afford to buy all the food they need.
More than 300 families shop at the pantry each week, Merrill said, though the pantry served as many as 500 households when federal food assistance was delayed due to the government shutdown last fall. She anticipates demand to grow and is considering adding Saturday hours.
The Belfast Soup Kitchen purchased the new food pantry building, located behind the soup kitchen, with an $850,000 donation from an anonymous donor. The former food pantry space will be turned into a community health hub, Merrill said.