WESTHAMPTON — The outdoor food pantry that sprang up outside the Westhampton Congregational United Church of Christ during the pandemic is being relocated to a new home, thanks to the efforts of at least one hungry bear.
Pat Miller, a lifelong Westhampton resident who is involved with the pantry, said that an animal got into some of the food that had been left out last week, which caused her to secure the remaining food. At the time, Miller said that they didn’t know what kind of animal had gotten into the food, but when she found that some of the containers had been torn open the next morning, she knew it was the work of bears.
“The next day it was very clear. It wasn’t raccoons or something,” Miller said.
She said that a locked plastic food locker was torn open, and she knew of no other animal that could do that. She also said that bears have been seen in the area.
The pantry has made its home in the Westhampton church’s Christmas creche since March, when it was established to provide food to people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller described the pantry as a way to help neighbors to not go into stores during the pandemic.
“It just kind of started happening very organically,” said Tad Allman-Morton, pastor of the church.
Miller noted that although the pantry has been located on the church’s property, it’s a community project.
“It’s definitely been wonderfully supported,” she said.
In addition to being a place where people can get food, she said that people can also share bread starters and extra flour and eggs, as well as produce from gardens.
Even though the outdoor pantry has been shut down, those wanting food can still leave a message at the church at 413-527-4204, or write down their request in a book in the creche. Because food is no longer being left out in the creche, those who want to receive food will have to leave their contact information.
Miller said that a request has been made for the pantry to use the church’s kitchen as its new home.
“We were planning on making a change already. We just weren’t expecting it to be so soon,” said Chris Wayne, who is part of the outreach committee for the church, which oversees the pantry.
Wayne said that having the self-serve food bank on a hill in the winter wasn’t going to be feasible, so plans had already been underway to move the pantry inside even before the bear incident.
As for what the pantry says about Westhampton, Miller said that Westhampton is the “the best community.”
“It just reinforces what we already knew,” she said.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.