Catholic Charities opens food bank in Monticello

    MONTICELLO, Maine — Distributing items to local food pantries is about to get a little easier for the Catholic Charities Home Supplies and Food Bank.
According to Dixie Shaw, program director for Catholic Charities in Aroostook County, the group is opening a food bank/distribution center in Monticello at the former Arrow Farms warehouse on Route 1. Catholic Charities services 25 food pantries in Aroostook County from St. Francis to Wytopitlock.
    “We just received our license to distribute food from that site, and we will start doing that at the beginning of January,” Shaw said.
Prior to the Monticello branch opening, Catholic Charities only food bank in Aroostook County was located in Caribou. That food bank has been servicing food pantries in Houlton, Orient, Sherman, Danforth and Wytopitlock. Those pantries that previously had to travel to Caribou for food items, will now be able to come to the site in Monticello each month.
“It was our hope to get closer to those food pantries in southern Aroostook, so that they too could take advantage of the food windfalls we have,” Shaw said. “We often get perishable food items that have to be used quickly.”
As an example, Shaw said when she receives a shipment of bananas, those items must be distributed quickly or risk spoiling.
“I’d call places like Wytopitlock and tell them they had to come that day to pick up items, but they couldn’t do it when we were all the way up in Caribou,” she said. “It just wasn’t cost effective for them.”
Funding for the warehouse was achieved through grant money. Shaw said a crew been working on the building since July, modifying the warehouse with insulation and overhead doors. There will be a food bank/recycling center and drop-off point.
“People in southern Aroostook will be more than welcome to drop off their household items, their knickknacks and doo-dads,” Shaw said.
She added used shoes and purses were of particularly high value and encouraged people to drop them off at the Monticello location.
The distribution center will be open Monday-Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patrons looking to drop off items must ring the doorbell at the site, which will notify the warehouse manager. A drive-in is located in the back of the building for food pantry individuals to load their vehicles in a covered environment.
For more information on the Monticello food pantry, call Shaw at 498-2575.