The Newton Food Pantry announced plans for the construction of Newton’s first standalone food pantry, to be completed by Spring 2026, according to a March 3 press release.
The single-story building, to be built on an empty lot at 131 Rumford Avenue in Auburndale, will be an upgrade from the food pantry’s current operations out of the basement of Newton City Hall, said Jeff Lemberg, executive director of the Newton Food Pantry since January of 2024.
Moving into a new space will provide the pantry, and its approximately 130 weekly volunteers, with a greater amount of storage for inventory including a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a bigger shopping space and waiting area for clients, extended available open-hours, and new opportunities for community outreach including education services such as helping residents sign-up for SNAP benefits.
Funding for the construction is the result of a capital campaign on behalf of the organization, and plans for construction have been in the works since late 2023, according to Lemberg. The building will be more than triple the size of the space occupied in City Hall, he said.
Construction of the milestone project will be led by Pidgeon & Co., a women-owned construction management firm based in Malden, and by Scott/Griffin Architects in Waltham.
Donated land
Lemberg said that an anonymous Brookline-based developer donated the land for the 5,000-square-foot pantry. According to the Newton assessor’s map, the previous owner of 131 Rumford Avenue was SSG Rumford Newton LLC, a real estate company, which sold the 20,443-square-foot property to Newton Food Pantry Inc. for $1 in December 2023.
The Brookline-based principal of SSG Rumford Newton LLC is Gerald D. Cohen, founder and principal of SF Properties, a real estate company in Brookline. Cohen has a strong record of service on nonprofit boards.
When asked by Fig City News for comment about this donation, Cohen replied, “Given the current food insecurity for families, and especially children, my partners and I felt it was important to give back to the community, so we decided to donate the land to the Newton Food Pantry to jump start their project.”
The size of the challenge
Assisting the community since 1983, the Newton Food Pantry provided for 2,530 Newtonians in 2024, and the number of households served has grown 20 percent each fiscal year, according to Sindy Wayne, president of Newton Food Pantry Board of Directors since February 2024.
“There are many more who struggle to put food on their table. This is an expensive place to live. Food prices continue to rise, and in our current space, we are limited in how much inventory we can store and how many days we can be open,” said Wayne. “Having our own building […] will allow us to bring in and serve more residents of Newton who need our help.”
According to the Greater Boston Food Bank in 2024, there are 4,480 food-insecure households in Newton and the city has an overall food insecurity rate of 14 percent.
Maximizing accessibility
“There’s no perfect location for a pantry […] because people all over the community have need, but there are a significant number of clients […] that do live on the Auburndale, Nonantum side of Newton,” said Wayne.
The pantry’s new location will have 25 dedicated parking spots for clients and is accessible by several nearby MBTA bus routes including the 505, 553, and the 554 on River Street at Lexington Street and the 558 on Rumford Avenue at Lexington Street.
The organization’s data indicates that the majority of clients currently use cars to reach City Hall, according to Wayne. She said she recommends that eligible clients sign up with GoGo Newton Transportation System for affordable rides to the pantry now and in the future. In addition, as described in the Fig City News article, Hunger in Newton, the Newton Food Pantry delivers groceries to residents in several situations – those living under the Newton Housing Authority, medically homebound individuals, and referrals from the City’s social workers.
Many of the Newton Food Pantry volunteers speak languages, like Mandarin, Cantonese, and Ukrainian, to assist the 60 percent of clients who speak a language other than English at home, according to Lemberg. “A lot of people don’t experience the fullness of this very large metropolitan city, and our clients represent the broad diversity of the people who live here,” he said.
The only requirement to use the food pantry is proof of Newton residency. From then on residents have access to shop freely two times a month under the pantry’s equity model, which distributes goods by family household size.
“What’s exciting about the pantry is that we have this amazing opportunity to do more,” said Lemberg. “The people of Newton have been incredibly generous in supporting us, and you know, by extension, their neighbors who need the help.”
