Shelburne Selectboard exploring alternative funding options for food pantry

Cowell Gymnasium on Maple Street in Shelburne Falls houses the West County Food Pantry operated by Community Action Pioneer Valley.

Cowell Gymnasium on Maple Street in Shelburne Falls houses the West County Food Pantry operated by Community Action Pioneer Valley. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 01-17-2025 12:01 PM

SHELBURNE — As the West County Food Pantry’s funding sources shift, the Selectboard is exploring the possibility of allocating funding and potentially asking voters to appropriate funds during Annual Town Meeting.

The West County Food Pantry, operated by Community Action Pioneer Valley, is facing a $50,000 budget deficit for next fiscal year after learning the towns of Shelburne and Buckland may be shifting the focus of their Community Development Block Grants to support housing, after traditionally giving $25,000 each in CDBG funding to the food pantry. However, the Shelburne Selectboard voted this week to explore the feasibility of using money from the town’s Housing Trust Fund to support the pantry.

“They are repayment loans that originated from the Community Development Block Grant Program and typically we’ve used those funds in the past for CDBG-eligible projects,” Shelburne Town Administrator Terry Narkewicz explained. “We’ve used them for infrastructure, handicap accessibility, so social services components would be allowed.”

The West County Food Pantry, housed at Cowell Gymnasium on Maple Street, serves 126 families each month, in addition to the thousands of families fed each month at its sister site, the Center for Self-Reliance in Greenfield. It costs roughly $350,000 each year to operate both facilities, according to Cheo Ramos, manager of both the Center for Self-Reliance in Greenfield and the West County Food Pantry. The West County Food Pantry makes up $50,000 of that total.

“It sounds like Shelburne and Buckland have pretty much been funding 100% of the West County Food Pantry for the last number of years that we’ve included it in our block grant program,” Shelburne Selectboard member Andrew Baker said.

Community Action Pioneer Valley Director of Community Services Frances Hall confirmed that the $50,000 budget comes from the two towns’ contributions. The amount covers the pantry’s rent at Cowell Gymnasium, personnel expenses and the purchase of food to supplement the donations from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

“The $50,000 has been very generous,” Hall said, “and a very, very helpful, piece of our program that’s covered really all of the expenses. We appreciate the support of the towns.”

Hall assured the board that Community Action is committed to keeping the pantry open to serve residents of western Franklin County. The budget is funded through September, and Community Action is prepared to stretch dollars and get creative after that to keep the pantry open. The pantry is currently open Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“We’re doing a big fundraising push this year,” Hall said.

It was originally believed the town would be unable to support the pantry through other means besides the CDBG funding as there are limitations on how taxpayer money can be used, but upon further research, town officials believe they may be able to tap into the Housing Trust Fund to help the pantry.

Shelburne Selectboard members agreed to continue their research and have town counsel review whether it would be legal to have Town Meeting voters appropriate money from the Housing Trust Fund for the pantry, while also continuing discussions with Community Action and Buckland officials on how to keep the pantry sustainable.

“I would be in favor of that, at least on a short-term or interim basis,” Baker said. “Recognizing that the Housing Trust Fund is a different kind of funding source than the block grant. It’s kinda like a little well or aquifer, you know — if you pump it out, you use it up, it doesn’t replenish itself.”

Discussions will continue in the coming months. If research proves the towns can support funding the pantry, the Selectboard would need to put an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to let voters decide.

“We sure hope that we find a way to get this done so that it doesn’t have to close after September,” Selectboard Chair Rick LaPierre said.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.