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Corpus Christi food pantry makes virus adjustments

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Mar 31, 2020

Bishop Francis Christian leads a prayer service in June 2018 to bless the new location of the Corpus Christi food pantry in the lower level of 3 Crown St. The pantry, with some modifications, continues to serve local folks in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telegraph file photo by DEAN SHALHOUP

NASHUA – When Maryellen Keigher came on board as director of the Corpus Christi food pantry last summer, nobody, except for maybe a few scientists or epidemiologists somewhere in the world, had heard the terms coronavirus or COVID-19.

And while seven or eight months have passed since her arrival, Keigher still feels like the virus’s sudden onslaught was her “baptism by fire.”

But the resourcefulness and perseverance she and the agency’s band of dedicated volunteers have come to share over those months are serving them quite well these days, as they in turn continue to serve meals and assorted food items to their fellow men and women in need.

An often daunting task even in relatively calm, uneventful economic times, the process of providing essential meals to those who otherwise may go hungry has become a monumental challenge in the face of an unseen, unpredictable menace lurking in the shadows.

Now, although the food pantry’s rooms are off limits to the public, those seeking help can still receive food by making an appointment, then picking up their packages, one person at a time, in the garage adjacent to the main building at 3 Crown St.

Folks seeking food should call the pantry at 882-6372 and leave a message, Keigher said, adding that “we will get back to you.”

Food distribution hours are 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Clients will receive a “prepared bag” containing non-perishable items, along with milk, eggs, butter and frozen meat.

As busy as Keigher and her volunteers are, she couldn’t help but notice a trend begin to develop.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of new faces on the days we’re open,” she said. And many of those, she added, belong to people working in the restaurant industry.

Most are out of work entirely, while others, Keigher said, are grabbing whatever hours they can. “Even if it’s not a whole shift, they tell us, they’ll take two hours here, three hours there,” she said.

With the churches closed, Keigher said, the pantry is also losing out on donations from parishioners, who dropped off non-perishables at their respective churches.

As for donations to the pantry, Keigher said they prefer cash, which allows them the flexibility to purchase the items they need the most at any given time.

Now and then, though, even with cash in hand, they come away from stores empty-handed – “they sometimes run out of the things we need the most,” Keigher said.

But despite the sharply increasing need, the struggle to collect donations and the wear-and-tear on the hard-working volunteers, their efforts are rewarded.

“People are thankful, they’re happy they got help,” Keigher said. “They’ll tell us, ‘I’m glad I came by.'”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our community during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Telegraph at https://home.nashuatelegraph.com/clickshare/checkDelivery.do;jsessionid=40C089D96583CD7318C1C1D9317B6162.

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