A new food pantry is being built in Marytown thanks to a grant and generous public donations. Lori Schmitz says the new Holyland Food Pantry will be built in Marytown. Schmitz says the new pantry is made possible thanks to a matching $250,000 Basic Needs Giving Partnership Fund grant, and local donations including a $70,000 donation from Baker Cheese. Schmitz says the new facility will have increased storage to buy bulk commodities, and will be zoned commercial to access federal and state government food programs for meat, produce and dry goods. Schmitz is one of the founders of the original pantry in 2014 housed in a church parsonage in Malone. She says the pantry serves 40-45 households monthly but says the need has outgrown the existing building. “I feel like the community now understands that there are folks who need help and they’re willing to suspend judgement and give generously to help,” Schmitz told WFDL news. “Its our neighborhood. These are people that we know.”
