I am a volunteer with the East Lyme Food Pantry held for the past seven years every Thursday in the parish hall of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Niantic. Before moving to St. John’s, the pantry was held in the Niantic Community Church.

We give out three meals a day for three days per family member. The pantry is part of Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries, which serves residents from East Lyme west to Madison although during this unusual time, we feed anyone who comes to our drive-by pick up food pantry.

We have had people from as far away as Norwich come to get food recently. On a recent Thursday, 151 families showed up for help.

Before this pandemic, we would feed 90 to 100 families every week with canned goods, tuna, ready to eat meals, pasta, rice, fresh vegetables and fruit, eggs, cheeses, and fresh meat and whatever else Pantry Director Sherrie Weiss could buy or get donated.

People should know we are in town providing this food and always looking for donations of money and non-perishable food items. Sherrie does a remarkable job hunting for food, but our numbers keep creeping up, which is going to mean less food for some people.

The Masonic Lodge in Niantic is having a food drive from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at the lodge on Society Road. We are hoping to be able to replenish our shelves with non-perishable food, but the need will be ongoing.

Carolyn Miller lives in East Lyme.

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