The Shepherd's Place Kitchen at 466 Main St. serves a hot meal from 11:00am - 12:15pm, Monday through Saturday, for anyone in the community in need of a meal. We serve an average of 70 midday meals. An average of 50 meals (dinners and breakfasts) are served daily to shelter guests. A special Christmas meal is served by our volunteers on Christmas Day. The Salvation Army at 661 main St. serves a hot meal at noon on Sundays and a Special Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving day.

The MACC Food Pantry at 466 Main St. is closed on major holidays. The pantry distributes groceries to Manchester & Bolton families in emergency situations on Mon., Wed., and Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00am and on Tues. and Thurs. from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. A satellite pantry is open on Wednesday mornings from 9:30 - 11:30am at the Squire Village PAL office (52 Ruby Drive). An average of 450 families receive a week of groceries from the pantry each month.

For more information, call (860) 647-8003.

Providing:

• Nutritious free lunches for people who can't afford three square meals (or even one) a day
• Free food for those who have to choose between eating and rent
• Groceries for people whose cupboards are bare

• Demand has increased 72% between 2002 and 2003
• Soup kitchens and food pantries everywhere are overwhelmed. In a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, requests for emergency food assistance nationwide climbed an average of 23% in 2001. (Willimantic Chronicle, Jan. 12, 2002)
• In a down economy, two things happen: there are more hungry mouths to feed, and fewer people have any extra to give. Donations to MACC's pantry and kitchen began declining when the economy stalled.