Food Pantry ready for big move

Volunteers were to descend on Port Washington this week to help the Food Pantry Inc. move from its current location in the basement of the rectory at St. Peter of Alcantara Catholic Church on the city’s north side to its new headquarters in the former Aurora medical clinic on the city’s far west side.

The move, which has been in the planning stage for months, will be accomplished in mere days, with the pantry reopening at its new location, 1777 West Grand Ave.

A team from Mr. Mover was to move the pantry refrigerators and much of the food Wednesday, Oct. 22, likely in two trips, Steve Hansen, president of the Food Pantry Inc. board of directors, said.

Four or five volunteers will be on hand at the new pantry to load items on the shelves Wednesday, he said, and similar numbers will be at both the new and old pantries on Thursday.

Last minute adjustments will be made at the new pantry on Friday, and volunteers will be trained as well.

And on Saturday, the new pantry will open at 9 a.m.

The opening will be the culmination of years of hard work for the pantry, which announced just more than a year ago that it would purchase the former Aurora Medical Clinic on Highway 33.

The Food Pantry, which is supported by 18 parishes and congregations throughout Ozaukee County and the community at large, has been operating from a 3,000-square-foot space in the basement of the rectory at St. John XXIII Parish’s St. Peter of Alcantara Catholic Church since it began more than 40 years ago.

Faced with a growing demand for services and a limited amount of space, the board of directors originally planned to construct a new building on a portion of the land owned by St. John XXIII Parish at its St. Peter of Alcantara property.

But when that fell through, the board  set its sights on the clinic building, which it purchased for $900,000. 

The 16,000-square-foot former medical clinic has plenty of space for the pantry and with only one level is accessible to people of all abilities. 

The pantry will now be set up like a grocery store, allowing clients to shop for their food. A separate room will be filled with clothing, and a cool room will be used to store produce such as potatoes and onions. There will also be areas where volunteers can put together birthday packs for the pantry’s youngest clients and use for the Gift a Child program at Christmas and space to house the Backpacks for Kids school program.

There’s also a teaching kitchen where volunteers can hold cooking classes, room outside where vegetables can be grown and plenty of space for the future.

While the building will open Saturday, Oct. 25, and a blessing and dedication held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, the grand opening and an open house will be held in spring since there is still some light construction being done, Hansen said.

The pantry is open from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays.