Cape Henlopen Food Basket set to reopen

Known throughout the Cape Region for serving the homeless, the Cape Henlopen Food Basket is about to get a new home of its own.

The food basket is relocating to Oyster Bay Road in Rehoboth Beach Friday, Feb. 1, the same building that will be occupied by the Community Resource Center.

The new building offers space for an office and a loading area for food, as well as a garage to receive the food.

Jon DeVoll, president of the food bank, said the food basket serves an average of 240 people and families per month, serving emergency food for those in need within the Cape Henlopen School District.

In addition to acquiring more space, the new building also offers a more open and efficient way of getting food to clients, DeVoll said

“We’re not expecting our case load to go up drastically, or at least I hope it doesn’t go up drastically because it means we have a lot of people who are out of work,” he said.

The food basket, which is staffed by nearly 80 volunteers, will remain on its current three days a week schedule as volunteers settle into the new digs, DeVoll said.

The food basket and the Community Resource Center are under the umbrella of the Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches. DeVoll said when LRAC bought the building on Oyster House Road, plans emerged to combine the center and the food basket at one site because both service a similar clientele.

DeVoll said the food basket gives enough emergency food for two weeks, providing grocery bags of food according to the size of the family. Three large freezers on site will provide frozen meats.

The food comes from donations from private donors, the Delaware Food Bank and supermarkets, DeVoll said. Most of the food is cereal, canned goods or items that need to be frozen.

The food basket started 10 years ago in Lewes and has been located in a small building behind Jiffy Lube on Route 1. While the food basket is strictly for emergency food, the spirit is always about helping others.

“We don’t make any judgments on whether the people should be here or not. We never turn anybody away,” DeVoll said.

Originally from Wilmington, DeVoll said he enjoys volunteering.

“I’ve always been involved in trying to give back to the community one way or another. I get satisfaction out of it,” he said.

For more information on the food basket, call 644-7727, although DeVoll said that number will change once the move is complete.