NORTH ANDOVER — It was a sad record, the most people ever served groceries at the Peoples Food Pantry in North Andover since it was founded in 1992.
The number: 608 people — about 100 more than last year at this time — received food on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
It’s a telling record, too.
It tells of the persistent and extreme need for food among a sizable part of our population.
Also, it tells that the Peoples’ 60 to 75 volunteers and generous donors continue to meet the need, exercising commitment and care as they work for the greater good.
“We had lots of food, fresh produce and good cheer for all who waited despite the cold and long lines,” says Jennifer Cordes, pantry president.
“Everyone left with full bags and grateful hearts.”
The Peoples Food Pantry’s volunteers and lone part-time paid employee, Lana Sweic of North Andover, double down on their battle against hunger and food insecurity around the holidays.
“People’s budgets are stretched in so many ways,” says Frances Rohr, a longtime pantry co-coordinator.
“We see a lot more people at the holidays.”
As it is the pantry regularly provides food for 400 people — guests — every two weeks at the North Parish in North Andover,.
These guests are not just served canned and boxed items. Rather, an estimated 30% of the food distributed is fresh produce, and sometimes chicken and fish, Cordes says.
Guests line up at the door at 6:15 a.m., well before the pantry’s 7 a.m. opening on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
“When I get here in the morning there are about 70 people standing outside in the dark,” Cordes says.
There were many more this past Tuesday.
Invariably, some of the early birds help the volunteers ready for 3-plus hours of food distribution from 7 to 10:30 a.m.
“Organized chaos,” Rohr calls it.
It’s intense, a lot of moving parts, people replenishing shelves, breaking down boxes, helping older people load food.
Actually, the rush starts the day before. Pantry volunteers deliver 10,000 pounds of food from the Seacoast Regional Food Hub in Salisbury, where it is stored, having been provided by the Greater Boston Food Bank and other partners.
“Since signing on with the Hub and the Greater Boston Food Bank (in January), we get three times as much food,” Cordes points out.
Stop & Shop donates 30 big banana boxes of food before the distribution date, as well.
Inevitably, the need surges the pantry days at year’s end during the holidays, Rohr says.
In addition, the pantry is serving North Andover families on Monday evenings.
They serve over 50 families in need in North Andover, including 65-plus adults and more than 100 children.
Contributions by numerous businesses, North Andover schools, churches, family food drives, neighborhood collections and direct donations allow the pantry to purchase food in bulk at a discount.
The organization’s goal is to feed the need. Seeing it met offers its own rewards.
“They’re looking over each other’s shoulder, trying to see what we have,” Sweic says. “And when they see that we have chicken or fish, and they see that we have fresh produce, lots of bread and peanut butter, you know, and things that kids like, cereal, they get very happy.”
Volunteers are an army in motion but take note of the people they are serving.
“You see suddenly their face and their happiness, and I am so happy, you know, seeing them in that moment,” Sweic says. “We know that they’re leaving here and we made their day.”
There’s a rapport between the guests and the pantry volunteers.
One man who is hard of hearing comes with his service dog, an affable German shepherd named Effie.
The volunteers bring treats for Effie.
One guest is a knitter and last winter crocheted colorful hats for volunteers, Cordes said.
The pantry has received a donation of toy cars for the guest’s children, some of whom come to the pantry with their moms or dads.
But food is the sustaining product guests come to the pantry for and the organizers including Rohr fear the need will outstrip the supply.
A retired nutritionist at Boston Children’s Hospital, Fohr grew up one of 10 kids in a home where her mom always set a place at the Thanksgiving table for a person in need.
“Despite how busy she was, mother always made a meal for a neighbor or friend who was sick or injured,” Rohr says. “I learned early on that sharing food was an act of love and compassion.”
Still the fear remains that the pantry won’t be able to keep up.
“And the idea of having to send somebody with nothing is heartbreaking, quite frankly,” Rohr says.
Still, the objective does not waver:
“Making sure that we’re feeding anybody that comes through the door, whether they’re from Lawrence or Methuen or North Andover or Andover or Georgetown,” she says.