DROITWICH Community Pantry has appealed for somewhere to install a new home amidst a rapid rise in demand and heartbreaking tales of parents going hungry to feed their children.
The pantry has secured enough funding to buy a portable cabin but has no site to base it on.
The organisation currently allows people to grab food packages from Droitwich Baptist Church every Wednesday between 1pm and 4pm, serving four people every 15 minutes.
However, it is constrained by space and time at the church and hopes moving to the new portable cabin would allow it to open for longer.
Demand for the pantry’s services has skyrocketed in recent years and it now helps between 150 and 160 families per week, up from around 30 before the pandemic.
It also has a waiting list of up to 30 people with many of its clients struggling despite being in work.
The pantry operates with around 12 to 18 volunteers carrying out various jobs including driving the food to the church and packing the goods into bags.
The portable cabin the pantry would like to buy would operate on a generator without the need for electricity plugs nearby.
The location would need to be in or close to the town centre, be easily accessible and have parking nearby.
It would also have to be in an area where it could be clearly visible, especially during the winter months when it gets darker earlier in the day.
Worcestershire Homeless Appeal and Droitwich Community Pantry Trustee Beccy Ricketts said: “It’s heartbreaking when we have to turn families away, but with the cost-of-living crisis so many ordinary people are struggling.
“We’ve had instances where people who work in public services, who have given so much to our community, now need our help to get by.
“Other people have been extremely desperate for food and if people aren’t eating properly this will have a long-term impact on their health.
“We’re all about helping the people of Droitwich as much as we can and hopefully this portable cabin will allow us to do that.”
Email [email protected] for suggestions on a new portable cabin location.
