Help Yourself Shelf Food Pantry (HYS) at St. Philip’s Church in Wiscasset was recently blessed with a donation of $2,500 at the grand reopening of Wiscasset Shaw’s for which we are truly grateful. We are also grateful for the recent donation from the First Bank of Damariscotta, not to mention other donations, large and small, that we’ve received through the years. Without such support it would be difficult to provide for the needs of those who seek us out each Thursday, 3:30 to 5:30.

As the federal government support is cut, Good Shepherd Food Bank is raising its charges. At the same time, the local stores are forced to raise their prices, diminishing the Shelf’s purchasing power. Even our bottle redemption program and participation in GSFB’s Fresh Rescue program can’t fill the void for the burgeoning number of people signing up for supplies as their budgets are stressed. 

HYS welcomes any and all donations of funds and food. Funds increase purchasing power. Individual items provide variety of choice on our "Take Table" where people are able to choose a few interesting items that we could not present for all. Those products should be in date, unopened, and commercially produced.

Donations of funds may be sent to St. Philip’s, 12 Hodge St., Wiscasset, ME 04578. Make checks out directly to Help Yourself Shelf or to St. Philip’s with Help Yourself Shelf on the memo line. As a 501c3 entity, all donations are tax deductible. To donate items, please bring them to the St. Philip’s hall where a donation cart is by the HYS door.

For inquiries or information, please call St. Philip’s at 882-7184, leaving a short message and return name and number, and a volunteer will be in touch. Alternately, people are able to reach out to helpyourselfshelf@gmail.com, https://helpyourselfshelf.wordpress.com/, or message on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HelpYourselfShelfFoodPantry/