Produce awaits distribution at the Huntington Food Pantry.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
HUNTINGTON — Since the spring, the Huntington Food Pantry has been reaching out to the communities that it serves for support, something that it has not often done in its decades-long service of providing food to families in more than a dozen area Hilltowns.
“It started last year, post-COVID, with the block grant,” said pantry Director Laura Gavioli. Last year, the pantry requested the standard yearly amount of $55,000 from the federal Community Development Block Grant, but the same amount was awarded to stretch over two years instead of one, effectively cutting the food pantry’s main funding source in half. At the same time, there has been a marked increase in the number of families coming for food.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
There was also a delay in receiving the block grant funding, Gavioli said: “It didn’t start until July 1 — we were burning down our savings and working off donations. Thankfully, there was some money in the bank.”
In order to raise additional funds for the end of the year, the food pantry is selling tickets for a calendar raffle, with prizes every day during the month of November. Entries are $20 and each ticket can win more than once — after every daily drawing, the winner’s ticket will be put back in the pot to be eligible for more prizes.
Gavioli said many Hilltown businesses and individuals came through in a big way with prizes. Prizes include gift certificates from Comfort Kitchen, B&D Variety, Dilly Lilly Gardens, Gateway Feed and Moltenbrey’s Market in Huntington, Cream of the Crop Farm, the Bread Basket and Russell Inn in Russell, Carm’s Restaurant in Chester, General Knox Inn in Otis, and the Bubble Mug Cafe in Westfield, among others.
Artisan gifts include pottery from Gray Catbird Pottery, two hand-built Adirondack chairs, a planter bench from Rose Cabin, a hand-stitched stadium blanket-sized quilt, Christmas pillows and an egg harvesting-themed basket, among others. Prizes can be mailed, or arrangements made for pickup.
Gavioli said the calendar fundraiser will help the food pantry get through the holiday season, which is always the busiest time of year. Last year, for Thanksgiving, in addition to family food boxes, the pantry gave out a hundred $10 gift certificates to Aldi supermarket for turkeys. This year, Gavioli expects the demand to be for at least 150 families.
“Our hope is to give out gift certificates. We just recently got a nice donation from the Middlefield food coop. I know for a fact we’ll have 150 families coming through,” she said. “Every single month we add at least six families, and as the holidays come, that number gets blown out of the water.”
Gavioli and former pantry Director Jill Bennett, who got a lot of the donations for the calendar, will be selling tickets at two upcoming fairs in Huntington.
The food pantry will have a table at the Huntington Health Fair, which takes place on Sept. 28 inside Stanton Hall and outside on the Town Common. The pantry will also have a table at the Huntington Fall Festival on Oct. 5-6, also on the Common.
Gavioli said besides selling calendar tickets, they want to make sure that people know where the Huntington Food Pantry is located, and the services it has to offer, especially now.
“Since Jan. 1, we’ve added 48 new families; it’s ludicrous, we’ve never done that before. One hundred thirty-eight people brand-new to the pantry that have never been here before, and we’ve given out 31,000 pounds of food year to date in the first quarter,” Gavioli said in April of this year. “People are coming back that haven’t been here in a while. Thankfully, they’re hearing about us.”
Gavioli said during the COVID-19 state of emergency, people were getting aid, and the pantry was serving 35 families a week, on average. Now, with those aid payments stopped, they are averaging 55 families a week, which she called “a substantial increase.” In 2022, the food pantry gave out 78,000 pounds of food in total to 440 individuals from 155 families.
Tickets for the calendar fundraiser are also available at www.pioneervalleyag.org/foodpantry.
The Huntington Food Pantry, a 501c3 nonprofit, is located on the lower level of the Pioneer Valley Assembly of God on 63 Old Chester Rd., and provides food to the residents of Huntington and more than a dozen surrounding towns. The pantry is open Thursdays, 9-11:30 a.m. and 2-4:30 p.m. For more information, call 413-667-3196.
