Late last October, Food Pantry of North Branford (FPNB) announced the new non-profit had found its future home. Now, on Sat. June 6, FPNB officially opens its doors at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Northford.

On Wed. June 24, the public is invited to FPNB's grand opening "Pack the Pantry" celebration from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Guests are encouraged to bring donations of non-perishable food and/or monetary contributions to the event, which will include tours of the spacious facility. FPNB is accessible via a rear entrance of St. Andrew's at 1382 Middletown Avenue.

FPNB co-founder and president Lynn Riordan said Saturday's "soft opening" will begin FPNB's year-round schedule of opening its doors three days a week. FPNB will begin by offering non-perishable foods and as-contributed seasonal produce (and, following a future installation for refrigeration, fresh dairy, meat and eggs).

Food will be provided as weekly grocery supplements for any North Branford resident in need and will be available for shoppers to select from shelves. FPNB will be open to residents each week for "shopping days" on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Fridays 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Getting food is as easy as coming to the pantry during hours of operation with proof that you reside in North Branford, said Riordan.

"You don't have to let us know in advance," said Riordan. "When anyone first comes in, all they need to do is just show proof of residence and their name. We're not going to ask any questions about financials. If people walk in wanting food, they can have food."

Shoppers will be given a cart with bags and make choices guided by laminated cards listing quantities available based on the size of the shopper's family.

"You can pick whatever you want off the shelf that meets the list," said Riordan. "I want people to feel comfortable and know they are welcome. It's a really welcoming, comfortable place where the volunteers are kind and you'll see a lot of smiling faces."

With events such as June 24's "Pack the Pantry" celebration, FPNB hopes to keep up food item donations momentum generated by recent community food drives.

"That food is going to go fast," said Riordan. "We need to fill our storage room and keep our shelves filled, especially as we get into the summer months," when contributing to a food drive may not be top of mind.

To help fill the shelves in time for opening day, Riordan organized a food drive at Stop & Shop, which filled a trailer donated by Trailer Depot. In addition, each of the town's public schools held food drives to gather specific items requested by FPNB. The Board of Education's Family Resource Center program collected a variety of food, students at Jerome Harrison Elementary School gathered jars of peanut butter and jelly, kids at Totoket Valley Elementary School collected cereal, North Branford Intermediate School drove in canned meats and North Branford High School (NBHS) collected pasta and sauce.

Contributions of materials and other services helped FPNB to create its space in the church facility.  For example, North Haven-based Warner Specialty Products gave FPNB brand new shelving at cost and company owners Jack and Amy Norton of North Branford donated the pantry's shopping carts. Precision Computer Services (Shelton) donated a computer and a monitor. FPNB's new signage is from New Haven Sign Co. (Northford), and many contributions, such as a desk, came from individuals wanting to help out, said Riordan.

"People are coming forward and donating," she said. "So it's ending up being exactly what I always envisioned, a positive community effort where everybody jumped in."

For Riordan, co-founder Frank Forgione (FPNB's vice-president) and the FPNB board of directors, seeing the pantry's shelves filled and the doors open is the realization of an effort which began last summer.  Following a failed first attempt to partner with the town for a leased space arrangement, FPNB got the go-ahead from St. Andrew's, which will be the recipient of an annual donation from FPNB.

"It's truly a great collaboration with St. Andrew's," said Riordan. "It's a very small parish, and we want them to thrive just as much as they want us to. To do well, we need them to do well."

Since last fall, FPNB has undertaken months of fundraising, preparation and hands-on work to ready the space and fill it with food. Some of the finishing touches included teams of volunteers recently installing FPNB's impressive rows of shelving in the shopping area.

"We had a team of 25 people who put those shelves together," said Riordan. "They offloaded and assembled them in two and a half hours on Tuesday (May 26). On Friday, a whole different team of people came out, and we had to weigh, sort, check dates and load the shelves."

Currently, there are 90 volunteers to help FPNB operate and to man the pantry on shopping days.  FPNB board member Fran Murphy coordinates volunteers while other board members take on additional roles to help run the operation. In addition to Riordan, Forgione and Murphy, FPNB board members include Denise Remy (Treasurer) and Paulette Harte (Secretary).  Forgione noted FPNB also owes a debt of gratitude to Branford Food Pantry president Wendy Cowles.

"She was our mentor," said Riordan. "She has been there for us since the beginning and she's attended all the meetings we've been through - - she hasn't missed a thing."

Cowles' guidance and support included helping FPNB navigate the non-profit's ability to connect with provisions available through Connecticut Food Bank. Riordan said FPNB's non-profit status has already been vetted by Connecticut Food Bank and the next step is finding a volunteer who will be FPNB's designated shopper. The role requires undertaking a brief certification program.

"We're still in need of someone to do shopping at Connecticut Food Bank; and whoever does the shopping has to take quick class," said Riordan.

Riordan anticipates as many as 50 families receiving weekly supplies from FPNB. Once the program has been rolled out and numbers can be assessed, refrigeration for perishable provisions will be incorporated.

"Being brand new, we aren't yet bringing in refrigeration and things like eggs, milk and cheese because we don't know how many people we may need them for. If we get fresh veggies, especially if they come in on the day of or night before it's a shopping day, we'll be offering those," said Riordan.

FPBN is also "working closely" with Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker to arrange for contributions of produce grown through NBHS greenhouse student program. From the town's schools to its residents and the many organizations and businesses which have shown support, Riordan said there are many to thank.

"The people that I want to thank the most are the members of our community, for supporting this endeavor and believing in us; and all our volunteers," said Riordan. "Without that, we would have never gotten here. The shelves wouldn't have been stocked -- we wouldn't have shelves! I can direct people, but they're the ones that did it."

For more information, find The Food Pantry of North Branford on Facebook. To make a tax-deductible donation, mail checks to Food Pantry of North Branford, P.O. Box 403, North Branford CT 06471.