Our New Home
"I am so thankful that I found you. At the end of the month,
I run out of money and don't eat."
We regularly hear comments like this. Prices of food, fuel, housing, healthcare, and childcare have been skyrocketing. Our guests live on fixed incomes, struggle with medical issues, are caught in today's economic dislocation, or just need a little extra when the grandchildren come to visit. We don’t ask why they are here. It is what neighbors do. We are neighbors helping neighbors.
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Our Temporary Home on Hanover Street
While the new pantry was being built, we operate at a temporary location - a small garage, where we must use outside space on pantry day.
Project Specifications
Our new home is a 60' by 40' low-maintenance single-level steel building.
We have 2,400 square feet of space which is a 50% increase from the 1,600 square feet we had!
We also have an additional 25 feet of Wire Shelving, a 30% increase, and 8 feet of Shelving for Coolers, a 17% increase.
More parking for guests and volunteers and most importantly, we are back at the church, where it all began!
Special Thanks
We thank all who, through large and small donations to the building fund, have brought the new Pantry building to reality. We greatly appreciate the outstanding support we have received from our community.
Special thanks to...
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Mary-Jo and Bryce Anderson
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Buckley Family
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Max's Family
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Cecilia & Paul
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Karen J Jones
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Thomas Manning and Barbara Polan
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Roland Price and Pat Craig
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Snell Family
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Spellman Family
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Taylor Family
- Howard Benevolent Society
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Prime Coatings
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Nun at Heart Foundation
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Institution for Savings Charitable Foundation
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Sean Perkins Foundation
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New England BioLabs
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Coffey Design and Build
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Atlantic Contract Systems
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Caswell Mechanical
Project Updates
December 7, 2021
Christmas came early for the First Parish Newbury Food Pantry: we broke ground for our new home on Church property! Planned on short notice because of weather and construction considerations, a small group of volunteers, donors and other community members gathered to see Jane Merrow dig the first shovel-full of earth. Jane spoke for a short time, recognizing the significant contributions to the pantry that have made this possible and acknowledging the significant in-kind contributions that will bring the project to fruition.
Pictured (l-r): Jeff Caswell, Caswell Mechanical; Bryce Anderson, Coffey Design +Build; Charlie Forristall, Atlantic Contract Systems; Jane Merrow, Director, First Parish Newbury Food Pantry; Alex Salalayko, Atlantic Contract Systems; Rev. Ray Henderson, Pastor, First Parish Church Newbury
December 23, 2021
Preparing the footings as we get ready for the foundation to be poured for our new pantry building!
December 26, 2021
Caswell Mechanical hard at work, cutting and digging the trench to carry the electricity for the new building!
January 3, 2022
The team made short work of pouring the remainder of the foundation.
Pro tip -- salt marsh hay on top prevents the concrete from freezing!
January 10, 2022
DELIVERY DAY!!
The Building was delivered today and construction began!
Could the name of the trucking company be any more appropriate....Kids Gotta Eat Trucking.
January 12, 2022
We are moving right along and the Building is starting to take shape.
We are so thankful for all the support!
January 14, 2022
One door is installed!
And the view from the inside.
January 26, 2022
The building is going up fast! The front is almost complete.
February 12, 2022
The interior side walls are more than halfway compete
March 10, 2022
The concrete floor has been poured! Next step is to seal it and then we will begin the interior build-out.
March 28, 2022
Electricians are hard at work! Heating and interior layout work has also begun. Still waiting on the garage door but we are getting close to finalizing a move-in date! Stay tuned.
April 4, 2022
The interior build out is starting!!
A few of our new shopping carts are overseeing the process :) :)
April 12, 2022
A panoramic view of the interior.
Thanks to Joppa Group for helping build some of our new shelving units...check out the tilted shelves on that produce cart! We cannot wait to start using it to serve our guests.
April 19, 2022
We have heat and the garage door has been installed. We are so close to opening day!
April 28, 2022
The paving, one of the last things needed before we can move in has been completed! Move day is officially scheduled for Saturday, May 7th.
May 6, 2022
After a full pantry day, our volunteers packed food into boxes at Hanover Street to move to our new building!
May 7, 2022
Saturday morning, ACE Cleanouts arrived to move the refrigerators, freezers, and wooden shelving. Our volunteers unpacked boxes, restocked the freezers and shelves, and ensured 20 High Road is prepared for our first pantry day!
Thanks to a lot of hard work by many wonderful people, the First Parish Food Pantry is back home and ready for business!
