John Fifield, director of operations for Hannaford Supermarkets, and Stephanie Savard, chief external relations officer for Families in Transition, in FIT’s remodeled food pantry. (Photo by Matthew J. Mowry) Families in Transition’s (FIT) food pantry has been a lifeline for those in need in Manchester’s Center City during the pandemic, but shopping the pantry meant carrying around a box and rifling through rows of other boxes to find needed items.
In November, FIT unveiled its newly remodeled food pantry at 176 Lake Ave. in Manchester, reimagined to resemble the look and feel of a traditional grocery store. The design, which is the result of a $50,000 donation from Hannaford, is intended to offer a more dignified shopping experience for the more than 1,000 food-insecure individuals and families who use the pantry on a monthly basis.
“Food insecurity and homelessness have a lot of stigma around them. We want them to feel respected. There shouldn’t be stigma to getting healthy foods for their families. They deserve that,” says Stephanie Savard, chief external relations officer for Families in Transition.
The remodeled food pantry includes shopping carts, commercial produce coolers, front door display meat freezers and a new inventory system so shoppers can find similar items grouped together on shelves. “The New Hampshire Food Bank uses us as a model for what food pantries should strive for,” says Faith Krefft, director of food services for FIT.
Demand for the food pantry’s services continues to be high. The pantry now has 3,500 registered households that it serves, and an average family takes about 75 pounds of food in a single visit, says Krefft. The pantry receives 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of donated food monthly and prepares and disburses 500 to 600 meals daily.
Hannaford stores in Manchester bring donations to the pantry five days a week. “We know these neighborhoods, and we know their needs,” says John Fifield, director of operations for Hannaford Supermarkets. For more information, visit fitnh.org.