Milton Community Food Pantry broke ground March 28 on a new outbuilding that will include storage space, walk-in freezers and refrigerators and for preparing boxes for distribution.

Located at the pantry’s new facility on Union Street Extended, the project is expected to cost $375,000 and take four months to construct. Until construction is complete, the pantry is still planning to conduct distributions twice a month at Water’s Edge Church on Route 16. 

“Today is quite an exciting day in the history of the Milton Community Food Pantry,” President Donna Murawski said. “With this new building, we will be able to create a modern, all-inclusive facility that will help us fulfill our mission of combating hunger in Sussex County and parts of Kent County as well.”

Murawski said the pantry, which has been operating since 2014, has seen a jump in the number of families seeking help. In 2022, the pantry served more than 6,000 people, providing food for 75,000 meals, a 27% increase in the number of families served. The pantry has previously operated at the former Goshen Hall in downtown Milton before moving to Water’s Edge. The intention is for distributions to eventually be handled at the Union Street Extended building, which has a circular driveway that pantry leadership believes will make distributions easier. 

“For almost a decade, we have operated out of several different locations, which has made it difficult for us to manage our operations and for our clients to find us,” Murawski said.

Milton Mayor John Collier said, “One of the things I am very much about is community. Milton is a great community and elements like the food pantry support that notion.”

Murawski said the existing outbuildings will be demolished and in its place will be a 1,500-square-foot building that will house much of the food preparation and storage operations for the pantry. To raise money for the new facilities, the pantry is in the middle of a capital campaign, which was bolstered in November by a federal grant through the American Rescue Plan Act for $126,000. 

Founding President Barbara Wright said, “We’ve had lots of problems that we’ve been able to overcome, and thanks to dedicated folks, we’re still going strong.”

Murawski added, “It’s very exciting. We just can’t wait for it to be finished. I think it will be so much easier for the volunteers, for the clients, for everyone involved. It’s just going to be a lot more organized.”

For more information on the pantry, go to www.miltonpantry.org.