Chelmsford Food Pantry Steps Up To Help

CHELMSFORD, MA — For more than a decade The Chelmsford Community Exchange's food pantry, founded by Sandy Donovan, has helped residents from Chelmsford and beyond who have needed supplemental food when the going gets tough. Now, as the state of emergency has a number of people out of work the need is that much more sharp.

Although people who hold down multiple jobs often need a little help, the pantry is especially critical to many as more than 660 restaurant workers lost their jobs between Friday and Monday, according to documents released Tuesday by MassHire Department of Career Service. >> Read more: Ma Hotel, Restaurant Workers Losing Jobs

"Food pantries are no longer band-aids but necessities," Donovan writes on her website.

The Chelmsford Community Exchange's food pantry, situated behind the Town Offices on Billerica Road adjacent to the ball fields, is ready to be a resource for anyone who needs it.

Hours:

5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Wednesday
2 p.m.-4 p.m. Thursday
6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday
12 p.m. to 1: 30 p.m. Saturday through April

Grocery stores and food pantries are considered essential businesses during the Massachusetts stay-in-place order. But health officials say customers should remember to keep their distance from others while shopping and to wash their hands frequently, cover their mouth with their arm when coughing or sneezing and to be kind to one another.

If you would like to donate nonperishable items to the Food Pantry, you can drop donations off between 10:30 am. and 1 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Thursdays.

Find out more: http://www.chelmsfordfoodpantry.org/