Following a story in the Lowell Sun recently, the Westford Food Pantry has been a seeing a boom in food donations, reversing a food shortage often seen during summer months.
After the story was published, an anonymous donor purchased $1,000 in food from Market Basket to provide to the food pantry, one of several new donations according to Council on Aging director Joanne Sheehan.
Thanks to the donations, the food pantry’s shelves at the Cameron Senior Center are filled for now, although it remains to be seen if the trend can continue throughout what is usually a slow period for donations.
“Really June, July and August are slow times for people to think of food pantries, but there’s a need throughout the year,” said Sheehan. “It would be nice to start a trend, I haven’t really gotten the word out yet, maybe other people would follow suit and provide donations like that.”
Other fundraising efforts have popped up for the food pantry after the story such as a drive at Bridges by EPOCH on Littleton Road, a $1,000 grant from Drew Webber of the Lowell Spinners and one person actually giving up their birthday presents in exchange for food to donate.
Sheehan has noted similar spurts in donations are common at other times, but there’s a year-round need for them.
“The publicity at this time makes people realize there is a need for food,” she said. “During the holiday time we do pretty well, and there’s a lot of publicity throughout the state for the need for food then, but there’s a need for those folks in the summer months as well.”
More information on the Food Pantry can be obtained by contacting the Cameron Senior Center’s main phone line at 978-692-5523 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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