Cherry Hill Food Pantry looking for a kind landlord to provide a new home

The Cherry Hill Food Pantry, which has been providing food to those in need across the region for more than a decade, now finds itself in need.

The pantry is losing its rent-free space on Brace Road and is looking for a landlord willing to give it a new home — free, or at a reduced rate.

“We knew eventually we would have to pay rent,” said the pantry’s volunteer executive director, Janet Giordano. “We’re a grassroots organization. We need someone — and I hate to say this — to have pity on us.”

The pantry was formed as a nonprofit 12 years ago to assist those struggling financially. More than 700 families in the area qualify for its services under federal guidelines. Between 400 and 450 families use the pantry each month, selecting their own groceries from the shelves rather than picking up bags filled with goods in advance.

“We have a lot of working families come in,” Giordano said. Others include elderly residents on fixed income, or single people with a low income.

In addition to groceries, the pantry provides supplies such as paper towels, napkins, and laundry detergent.

The pantry’s space, now about 7,500 square feet, has always been donated. If the pantry has to begin paying premium rent, Giordano worries that services may have to be cut.

Three years ago, the pantry moved from a house owned by a church to the current location at a small shopping center on Brace near Haddonfield-Berlin Road. The property is owned by Kimco Realty, which is bringing in a new landlord who is adding a new tenant to the space now used by the pantry.

Asian grocer Hung Voung Supermarket will soon lease the space, said Jennifer Maisch, Kimco’s director of communications. Kimco is working with the food pantry to allow the organization to remain until a new space is found, she said. Kimco first tried to relocate the pantry at one of the company’s other properties in Cherry Hill, but did not have an appropriate space, Maisch said.

Cherry Hill Mayor Chuck Cahn has vowed to help.

“The township will do everything we can until they can get a space,” said Cherry Hill spokesperson Erin Patterson Gill. “If the need for our residents is there, we need to make sure we do everything we can do to keep those services.”

The mayor has placed calls to property owners looking for space.

Since the organization was not paying rent, it used donations to upgrade the location on Brace, creating a supermarket where people who qualify for assistance are allowed to shop free once a month. People are permitted to take whatever they need, although there are limitations on certain items that come in limited supply.

The pantry relies on volunteers to sort and stock donations. If donations fall short, the pantry purchases what is needed. Rents are high in Cherry Hill and the expense of a new lease could cut into the money the pantry needs for those purchases.

Just as Kimco has been generous with its space, Giordano said other businesses have been kind as well.

“We give out so much because of the generosity of Acme. We tell everyone to shop at Acme,” Giordano said, describing how the supermarket sends truckloads of food that includes fresh produce, meats, and dairy. “We have been blessed that we can do what we can do.”

With perhaps the kindness of a stranger, she’s hoping to continue that.