2006-03-01-HSC-rpt - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Waltham Salvation Army in Waltham, on Mondays through Fridays. Three other food pantries often drawn in Lexington residents and transient persons: The Salvation Army Food Pantry of Waltham offers single bags of food for individuals and double bags for families once a week on Thursdays. Users fill out an application form and display ID but no one is turned away. It gets its food supplies from the Greater Boston Food Bank, a large warehouse where foodstuffs are collected from food retailers and wholesalers and then sold to local pantries at very low prices. This pantry supplied 3,492 persons and families in 2004. About 40 of them were from Lexington. Use of the pantry has risen by about 350 during the past year and the number of Lexington residents, while small, has risen within this. Need overall is outstripping the levels of donations of money and food. The Red Cross Food Pantry in Waltham is used by a few Lexington residents. Food stuffs, including fresh vegetables and meats, are drawn from the Greater Boston Food Bank and their cost is charged against money contributions to the American Red Cross. About 20 percent of the outlays come from local donations of food and money. About 5,000 individuals and households utilized this pantry during the past year. Lexington residents using it numbered 84. The number of clients has risen by nearly 150 percent over the past year and Lexington users have risen within this increase. The Red Cross procedure entails completion of an application form which calls for showing ID, documentation of annual income, and a listing of all household members. Food is then provided immediately and up to once a month. Some Lexington residents utilize the Bedford Community Table and Pantry each Thursday afternoon. The Table serves a free dinner to all clients once a week. Bags of food, one for individuals are more for households, are dispensed by the Pantry. Bedford residents donate 17