Healthy Waltham Food Pantry In Need Of Permanent Home

WALTHAM, MA — The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on an existing problem across the country: Food insecurity.

Healthy Waltham, an organization that created an emergency food pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic, estimates that they've distributed 3.8 million pounds of food, or over $7 million worth of food.

"We formed the Covid-19 Emergency Food Pantry to respond to the crisis and pivoted our activities to focus almost entirely on fighting food insecurity for Waltham’s underserved families," officials said.

"Since then, our pantries have been held twice a month or more, often serving more than a 1,000 families at a single event."

Now, officials say they will no longer have a permanent place for the emergency pantry at the end of March and worry that that date could mark a disruption of services, if not the end of the pantry.

Since September 2021, officials hosted the emergency food pantry on a temporary basis at Government Center at 119 School St. They've been seeking a permanent home since, but have only found temporary solutions.

Officials say they've been allowed to continue distribution and storage at Fitch School at 14 Ash St., but only until the end of March.

"If we do not find a permanent home in the interim, we may be forced into a disruption of our pantry service," officials said.

Executive Director Myriam Michel told NECN that group has had difficulty convincing those with space to welcome them, despite their contributions to Waltham.

"No one wants a food pantry in their backyard. That's quite simple," Michel said. "And we've gotten resistance from neighborhoods in the city and residents."

While their search continues, the group has scheduled a Jan. 24 planning meeting that's open to the public. It's scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Waltham Public Library Lecture Hall, 735 Main St.