By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
Sarah Conville (left) and Amy York were two of the many volunteers who stepped up and helped the Greater Groveport Food Pantry move into its new home.
An army of volunteers moved boxes of food as well as refrigerators, tables and shelving into the Greater Groveport Food Pantry’s new home on June 21.
The Greater Groveport Food Pantry moved to a new location at 595 Cherry St. in Groveport. The public is welcome to stop by to see the new facility at an open house on July 4 from 1-4 p.m. Non-perishable donations will be accepted.
According to Greater Groveport Food Pantry Director Becky Soles, the pantry’s normal operating hours will be 3-7 p.m. on Thursdays. The pantry’s official opening day is June 30 and the pantry will be open every Thursday after that.
Soles said the new location is an improvement over the food pantry’s previous home, which was in the basement of the Madison Township Community
Center, located at 4575 Madison Lane, where it had been since 1997.
“The new site has a larger room, a single floor plan, a restroom, and is on one floor with no long stairs, which means it will have easier accessibility for the disabled and our volunteer staff,” said Soles.
Last year, Groveport City Council approved legislation to allow the pantry to move into the city’s former police station, a 77-year-old, 1,024 square foot, one story, brick structure, located at 595 Cherry St. The city had been using the building for storage.
Soles said the new site’s open space enables the food pantry to install 12 moveable metal storage shelves and other existing equipment.
According to Soles, the Greater Groveport Food Pantry plays an important role in the community.
“There are many folks on fixed incomes for various reasons in the Groveport Madison school district area, so we provide a few days of emergency food to help them every 30 days. We are neighbors helping neighbors,” said Soles.
The pantry serves clients who live within the boundaries of the Groveport Madison School District. According to Soles, approximately one third of the pantry’s clients live in the city of Groveport with the rest residing in Madison Township.
The pantry is a non-profit organization operated by a volunteer board of directors comprised of representatives from 10 area churches. It receives no outside funding, has no guaranteed monthly income and operates on donations.
To donate food to the Greater Groveport Food Pantry, call (614) 836-7652 to arrange for delivery of food donations. To make a monetary donation, mail a check to Greater Groveport Food Pantry, P.O. Box 101 Groveport, OH 43125.
For information, or a list of needed food items for donation, or to find out about upcoming community food collection events, visit groveportfoodpantry.com.
Thank you , Rick, for this nice article about our food pantry move. We appreciate your support of our community mission project.