Sherman opens food pantry

By Karen Donato
Staff Writer
    Jeff Packard, manager of the Upper Valley Economic Corporation in Sherman has announced that the towns of Sherman and Stacyville are the recipients of an emergency food assistance program. This program was offered through the Maine Department of Agriculture.
    UVEC has established a food pantry in the Sherman Municipal Building to service the residents of Sherman, Stacyville and the outlying towns. Residents are encouraged to fill out a simple application in order to receive the food. Applications need only to be completed once, to be included in the list for the year. The quantity a family receives depends on the number in the family.
    The Aroostook County division of the Catholic Charities of Maine is joining in this project to provide additional provisions to the pantry. They store the food in their warehouse in Caribou and Robert Heath has volunteered to transport it from there to the pantry in Sherman free of charge. Every four months the UVEC group will receive a pallet load of food to distribute to qualifying applicants.
    Food items that will be available are: cereal, peanut butter, canned vegetables, soups, sauces, stews, tuna fish and a small amount of frozen meat. In addition, a Patten resident will be providing a quantity of free potatoes.
    Other pantries in the area are: Ludlow Food Panty, St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Houlton and the Maliseet Pantry. The Sherman pantry is the most southerly in the county.
    For more information please call, the Sherman Town Office at 365-4260, Jeff Packard at 365-7631, or the Stacyville Town Office at 365-4195.
    The Sherman pantry will be open from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month.