Seymour pantries expand gardens in response to need for produce

Blessing Pantry and Community Garden coordinator Aaron Smith planting and preparing the garden.

SEYMOUR - The Blessing Pantry and Little Free Pantry on Skokorat are expanding their community garden footprints in response to need for more fresh produce. 

The expansion is a direct result of listening to local residents about their limited access to produce, even among those qualifying for assistance from food banks. Produce doesn’t last until the next pantry visit, which in many cases, may be weeks away.

The Little Free Pantry on Skokorat has enlisted Team Rubicon, including town resident
Lauren Cust, to add seven 4x8 garden beds. When Team Rubicon arrives on June 3, they will
provide the labor needed to expand the current garden to more than triple its current size. 

This will mean a substantial increase in both the variety and volume of produce available to those in need.

The Blessing Pantry is also adding raised beds. They are taking their expansion project one step further by starting a Weeding Wednesday initiative where residents are invited to work in the garden while enjoying light refreshments and musical entertainment.

Both free pantries opened at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the massive
surge in individuals experiencing food insecurity in the Valley.
Since opening in 2020, the Blessing Pantry and Little Free Pantry on Skokorat have become
hubs in the community. Both field concerns from neighbors regarding barriers to food access and increasingly unaffordable costs of groceries, housing, utilities, and child care.

The pantries have been meeting with town residents and local nonprofits as part of the founding leadership of All In for Seymour, part of the larger Valley Area All In Movement. 

All In groups from Ansonia/Derby, Shelton, Oxford, and Milford are working with TEAM, Inc., in Derby, a national leader in not-for-profit management and program performance in the field of human services, early childhood, family support, and community engagement.
The goal of All in for Seymour and the broader All In Movement is to advocate for everyone to have
access to a safe and affordable place to live, a place where access to food is secure, and a
place in the decision-making that affects our lives.

The Little Free Pantry on Skokorat is run by Seymour native Jenny Rice along with her husband and two children out of their home at 58 Skokorat St.  

The Blessing Pantry is staffed entirely by volunteers and located in the parking lot of Trinity Church at 91 Church St.

Their garden can be accessed by following the signage near the pantry. 

Both pantries are open and accessible 24/7 for anyone in need, no questions asked.

This is a press release from Jenny Rice of Seymour, who runs The Little Free Pantry on Skokorat.