On a recent January afternoon, the new Island Grown Initiative (IGI) Food Pantry in Oak Bluffs was humming along like a well-oiled machine.
Inside the pantry, a dozen volunteers hustled to pack items into shopping bags, as cars outside spiraled around to a side door to pick up their delivery. Volunteers were breathless with the constant movement of packing, running, and handing food to customers.
Wire shelves were packed with shelf-stable items — paper sticking out of cardboard boxes with order numbers neatly written. There are dry goods, fresh produce, and meat from local farms, prepared meals, and frozen food.
The squeak of shopping cart wheels and volunteers yelling out packing instructions rang out over a James Taylor soundtrack.
Merrick Carreiro, the food equity director for IGI and current Food Pantry manager, describes all of this choreography as a “dance.”
Carreiro says they’ve been getting busier by the week since they opened their doors to their new permanent residence at 114 Dukes County Ave. on Nov. 18, having moved from a makeshift, temporary home at the Portuguese-American Club. With demand for sustainable food sources rising, IGI reached its capacity, and needed an upgrade.
The new pantry — an unassuming, residential-looking building on the outside, and warehouse-like on the inside — is much larger than its previous location.
With around 360 to 380 locals ordering, and more than 7,000 pounds of food delivered to them each week — and at a time when grocery prices are rising and food equity is getting more unsustainable — the pantry staff hopes to offer a helping hand to the community. They say, The more the merrier.
And according to Carreiro, the number of clients she sees at the pantry is continuing to rise. It had 2,200 clients in 2019. Now it has more than 5,700 registered.
It’s not just a rise in users at the pantry. On Thursdays, IGI delivers ready-made meals to people with chronic illness, disabilities, or no transportation. This program has grown exponentially -– IGI projects 75,000 meals will be delivered this year. In 2018, it delivered 2,304 frozen meals. As large as this increase is, Carreiro is not surprised by how many people continue to reach out for the service.
“It’s so expensive here,” Carreiro said. “You really can’t judge anyone. We don’t know how high their bills are.”
If anything, Carreiro and IGI co-director Noli Taylor want people to feel more welcome, and they invite anyone into the space, regardless of income or status. For Taylor, food equity is a sign of care. “Food can weave a community together,” she noted.
The transition to Dukes County Avenue isn’t the only transition the pantry has made. IGI also introduced a new online system that is proving to be efficient and effective. Islanders order online, volunteers pack it up, and the order is brought right to the car. There’s also an added sense of anonymity and care online. People can get their basic needs met without showing their face — made possible by the work volunteers put in behind the scenes.
Carreiro said the new online system also helps her to better understand food needs on the Island. “We have more accurate data, because everything is being pulled from live inventory,” she noted.
Anna Koppel, a Food Pantry client as well as an administrative volunteer, has found IGI’s new programming to be more accessible than before. For her, the online system has added to her experience. “The anonymity of being able to place an order and choose what you want to choose adds an element of empowerment,” she said.
Koppel started going to the Food Pantry in 2020. She found out she was pregnant two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Laid off from her job during the lockdown, she was in need of extra support. “It was so terrifying,” Koppel said.
Solace came in the form of IGI. “Someone told us about the Food Pantry, and it was like we could breathe again,” she said.
At first, Koppel dealt with feelings of shame around her food needs. But she said the care and genuine concern of IGI and pantry volunteers not only helped assuage the feeling of shame, it inspired her to volunteer.
Now Koppel helps with administrative work, and continues to utilize the pantry herself. “This is Islanders taking care of Islanders, and there’s something really beautiful about that,” Koppel said. “Most Islanders can recognize that we have this housing crisis and food insecurity, but not a lot of people are doing a lot about it.”
In addition to the regular Food Pantry, every Friday the organization hosts seniors for its Senior Shopping Day. Older Islanders get to shop around the actual pantry, instead of ordering ahead of time. The day doubles as an outlet for socialization and community building.
José Sanabria, 75, looks forward to these Friday shopping events every week. He’s one of 60 seniors who participate.
“For a single person, a senior, and [for someone] on a fixed income, it’s a really great venue for those people,” Sanabria said. “It’s a way to get involved with elder people.”
Sanabria is a social person. He’s lived on the Island for 15 years, since moving from Mexico, and he knows the winters can be a better fit for the local introvert. So he tries to get out to the community as much as possible.
“We are a social species — the winter is really hard for people to get out. That’s when people get depressed, with the weather, dark, cold, and being by yourself,” Sanabria said. The Senior Shopping Day has been an opportunity for Sanabria to not only connect, but also offer his help and conversation to other elders in the community.
While he doesn’t volunteer with IGI or the pantry like Koppel, he finds ways to put his high energy to use. He described bright conversations with people on the Island who have needed his helping hand from time to time, and he’s more than willing to provide it. He’s done yardwork, dropped off extra food at Havenside Village, and delivered meals over the past few years to assist his peers.
When discussing the pantry, Sanabria said, “This is one of those places you can go and do something. It’s a place to go for fresh food. Part of being in a community is that the community provides for everyday life.”
Taylor and Carreiro have expressed similar sentiments. Their belief that food should be accessible to all, regardless of their position in life.
“There’s so many reasons why people may need help,” Taylor said. “This is an accessible space that will allow clients to receive food with dignity.”
“We’re nourishing the community — it’s rewarding to be a part of that,” Carreiro added.
To register to volunteer with IGI, go to igimv.org/volunteer.
