As food pantries and soup kitchens scurry for summer services for the poor, there are little resources for Pawtucket East Side residents.
I am aware of the Neighborhood Food Pantry Express at the Salvation Army. As praise to many of our clients, they are survivors. They know on which day to visit different food pantries. Bus routes are memorized as the poor use RIPTA buses for air conditioning or heat and as a temporary shelter.
What surprises me about the Salvation Army pantry express is how 100 people would stand for two hours and wait in line for fruits and vegetables. This shows the desperate nature of the situation of Pawtucket residents being ''food deprived.''
Nevertheless, what makes the Food Pantry of St.Matthew Trinity, 690 Newport Ave., different is our pantry is only seven of the 25 official food pantries and soup kitchens in Pawtucket that is in the 02861 zip code. Every other pantry or soup kitchen is on the west side of the river.
However, our pantry gets clients from all areas of Pawtucket, especially Gallego Court and 560 Prospect Street. People enjoy our hospitality, handicapped-accessibility, and plentiful parking. Plus, we are fairly close to the Armistice Boulevard and Columbus Avenue RIPTA bus lines. Thus, we are able to serve 360 families per month.
In conclusion, one can only hope that churches or organizations on the east side of Pawtucket can start of expand food pantries or soup kitchens. With possible mill closures, mortgage failures, and car repossessions, people need all the assistance they can muster.
I am aware of the Neighborhood Food Pantry Express at the Salvation Army. As praise to many of our clients, they are survivors. They know on which day to visit different food pantries. Bus routes are memorized as the poor use RIPTA buses for air conditioning or heat and as a temporary shelter.
What surprises me about the Salvation Army pantry express is how 100 people would stand for two hours and wait in line for fruits and vegetables. This shows the desperate nature of the situation of Pawtucket residents being ''food deprived.''
Nevertheless, what makes the Food Pantry of St.Matthew Trinity, 690 Newport Ave., different is our pantry is only seven of the 25 official food pantries and soup kitchens in Pawtucket that is in the 02861 zip code. Every other pantry or soup kitchen is on the west side of the river.
However, our pantry gets clients from all areas of Pawtucket, especially Gallego Court and 560 Prospect Street. People enjoy our hospitality, handicapped-accessibility, and plentiful parking. Plus, we are fairly close to the Armistice Boulevard and Columbus Avenue RIPTA bus lines. Thus, we are able to serve 360 families per month.
In conclusion, one can only hope that churches or organizations on the east side of Pawtucket can start of expand food pantries or soup kitchens. With possible mill closures, mortgage failures, and car repossessions, people need all the assistance they can muster.
