Milton food pantry to offer emergency boxes

Milton Community Food Pantry will hold an emergency food box giveaway from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, April 14, but not at the pantry’s usual home at Goshen Hall. Instead it will take place in the Magnolia Street municipal parking lot. The original date of April 13 was postponed due to inclement weather.

Food pantry President Donna Murawski said the pantry, which has largely been unable to operate for lack of a food supply, has secured 144 boxes of food from Delaware Food Bank through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program intended to get emergency food to people whose income has been affected by shutdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Murawski said those seeking a food box must meet certain requirements mandated by USDA. First, they must have a Delaware driver’s license and must meet income standards, which go from a single person up to a family of eight. While income requirements vary, Murawski said a single person must show they make no more than $23,000 per year or $1,900 per month or $445 per week. A couple would have to make no more than $31,000 per year, $2,600 per month or $602 per week. For a family of four, the limits are no more than $47,000 per year, $3,900 per month or $917 per week.

Murawski said while food pick-up will be drive-thru, someone will have to get out to fill out the income requirements and show identification. The box giveaway is planned for 10 a.m. to noon or until supplies run out. Murawski said the pantry is still only operating on an emergency basis, but the plan is to do box giveaways whenever supplies are available. 

More information will be posted at the pantry’s usual home, at Goshen Hall on Federal Street, and can also be found at the pantry’s Facebook page or at www.miltonfoodpantry.org.