The Bread for Life Food Pantry in Gloucester is making a big change.
The charitable organization, which has been serving the county since 2009, will be moving out of its cramped quarters in a former garage adjacent to St. Therese Roman Catholic Church on Main Street and into new quarters in the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Route 14.
Bread for Life executive director Monique Raposa said the nonprofit organization purchased the former church building for $250,000 and was able to put down a significant deposit because of all the grants for food assistance that had been provided during the past year.
She explained that the pantry typically has to dip into the general fund, which is used for such things as maintenance, capital expenses, and special projects, in order to supplement the food budget. But grant funds covered the cost of food over the past year, allowing the general fund to build up. That, along with a “generous estate settlement,” helped fund the down payment o...