Since the middle of March, FAITH Food Pantry at 46 Church Hill Road has continued its dedicated service to those in need in a manner honoring the social distancing directive.

Normally open to the food insecure on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings, since coronavirus protocols have been in place the food pantry has operated by appointment only. Those needing to make use of the local food pantry for a once a month supply of groceries and other household items must call FAITH President Lee Paulsen at 203-426-5604 or Vice President Jill LeBlanc at 203-837-0816 to arrange pick up of supplies. Anyone wishing to donate items is also requested to call ahead and arrange to have a volunteer meet them at the building.

“Our volunteers get the wish list, put it in a wagon outside [the pantry entrance]” and from there, said Paulsen, the recipient can safely pick up the order.

Since beginning the appointment-only service, she said, the pantry has seen a continued uptick in the number of people needing help. In addition to what is usually about 30 recipient familes a week, they now are providing groceries for more than 20 new families each week.

Fortunately, Paulsen said, “We’re still getting a lot of good donations. People are as generous as ever.”

The customized bags of groceries may contain chicken, hamburger, or hot dogs, she said, due to the organization’s ability to purchase meat from Butcher’s Best on South Main Street.

She remains grateful to Sal e Pepe restaurant for its regular donation of quarts of milk for FAITH clients.

What the pantry is low on, are the canned chili and stews that clients like. Those items seem to be unavailable in recent forays to the stores, she said, when volunteer shoppers make use of the cash donations received. Other needed items include juices and canned fruits.

“Cash is great,” Paulsen declared. “We can buy what we want, provided we can get it. It is a dilemma,” she observed, referring to the low quantities of paper goods and other household supplies on the shelves in local supermarkets.

So far, staffing the food pantry has not been problematic. Three to four volunteers have been able to quickly shop for and bag all requests on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings.

“Everyone knows what to do. We’ll get through this,” Paulsen said.

Additionally, Governor Lamont is encouraging Connecticut residents with extra canned and other non-perishable food items to make a donation to a food pantry in their area. To find local food pantries, visit 211ct.org/foodpantries. Monetary donations are also welcome, as are monetary donations to Connecticut’s regional food banks — Foodshare (foodshare.org) and the Connecticut Food Bank (ctfoodbank.org).