Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter Pop Up Pantries

NASHUA – Free fresh food has been available to Nashua area residents at “Pop-Up Pantries”, organized by United Way of Greater Nashua, every weekday since their inception in April 2020. So far, United Way of Greater Nashua volunteers have had more than 24,500 interactions with families picking up groceries from the Pop-Up Pantries, which are at different locations in Nashua every weekday. Each week, Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter provides hundreds of pounds of food that volunteers deliver to the Pop-Up Pantries. 

Food insecurity and hunger are some of the most pressing issues New Hampshire residents face, with roughly 94,450 struggling with hunger. Of that group, 24,360 are children. The harmful effects of hunger on our community were only amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for food assistance services that were more integrated into the community.

Janice Dumont has been a volunteer with the Pop-Up Pantry program since its inception. As such, she has unique insight into the program from her 2+ years of volunteer work with it. She started out doing lunch deliveries to homebound students during the peak of the pandemic, but then switched over to working at different pantry locations around when United Way first started the program.

Now, she typically runs the Arlington St. pop-up out of the Arlington St. Community Center. Pop-ups typically have at least two volunteers, one who picks up the food from the Soup Kitchen, and one who picks up supplies from the United Way office. Janice picks up the food, stays to help distribute it all, and returns any extra food.

In her time running various pop-up sites, she has noticed a few patterns.

“Most of the people who are going to come usually come within the first 15-20 minutes, but it’s still a guessing game to try and figure out how much to save in case someone else comes [later]” she mentioned.

Another pattern she has taken note of is the foods that are always popular among pantry visitors. The two items that are consistently well-received are fruits and meats, with both having a tendency to go pretty quickly.

“Fruit is always a winner, especially berries. People go nuts for berries,” she said with a smile.

Other items that always go over well include lettuce, rice, canned vegetables, potatoes, carrots, and bread. 

Janice also mentioned how one of her favorite parts of volunteering at these pop-ups is getting to know the Nashua community.

“I’ve gotten to know Nashua much better than I ever have before, I had no idea how many people were in need,” she said. 

In addition to food being available at the Pop-Up Pantries collaboratively run by United Way and Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, food is also available at many food pantries around the area, such as Tolles Street Mission, Corpus Christi Food Pantry, Southern NH Rescue Mission, Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, and the Salvation Army. United Way of Greater Nashua runs weekly food drives that support all these pantries and others in the surrounding towns. Volunteers are needed to help collect food at stores. Sign up to volunteer at the link below or contact United Way at info@unitedwaynashua.org or (603)882-4011. Volunteer here: https://www.tinyurl.com/UWGNFoodDrive Donations of nonperishable food are also accepted at United Way of Greater Nashua, 20 Broad Street in Nashua on weekdays between 10am and 3pm.   

During the warm months, April 17 through October 28, United Way of Greater Nashua volunteers will distribute food at 12 outdoor locations around the downtown area of Nashua. During the cold months the number of Pop-Up Pantries is reduced to 5 at strategically placed locations around Nashua. 

This spring the Pop-Up Pantries can be found at:

Mondays			Wednesdays
11am	Harbor Care, 45 High St.		11am	Nashua PAL, 52 Ash St.
2pm	Sullivan Terrace North, 56 Tyler St.		11am	Arlington St. Community Center
			2pm	Lamprey Health, 22 Prospect St.
Tuesdays			Thursdays
11am	River Pines Mobile Home Park		11am	Nashua Community Music School, 2 Lock St.
11am	Major Drive		2pm	Greater Nashua Dental Connection, 31 Cross St.
2pm	Ledge Street Elementary
			Fridays
			11am	Crossway Christian Church, 33 Pine St.
			2pm	Fairgrounds Middle School

For more information about this project please contact United Way at info@unitedwaynashua.org or (603)882-4011.

United Way of Greater Nashua is an independent 510(c)3 nonprofit founded in 1929 to serve the residents of Greater Nashua. Its mission is to fight for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. United Way of Greater Nashua has received GuideStar and Charity Navigator’s top ratings for accountability, transparency, and financial management. For more information or to get involved as a donor or volunteer, please email United Way of Greater Nashua at, info@unitedwaynashua.org or visit their website at www.unitedwaynashua.org.