Volunteers set up Dedham Pantry's new spot at Dedham Plaza

The Dedham Food Pantry at last has a new home. But moving in was harder than it looked – including in the early going the evening of Friday, Jan. 8, when putting together shelves proved problematic.

“They were nice enough to donate them, but I don’t know what we thought – if they were just going to magically stand up,” said trustee Karen King of the shelves, which came from a closed Stop & Shop in Pawtucket, R.I., and still bore price tags. (Eight-pack of cinnamon buns, $4.49; 16-quart wastebasket, $3.49.)

It was snowing outside, and rather cold inside the spare space with cream-yellow walls, around the corner from Maytag Super Wash at Dedham Plaza, where the pantry is setting up shop this month.

But as more people arrived, the pantry’s team of volunteers built momentum. Using blue tape, Co-President Lynn Rogan and others marked on the slippery floor where the shelves would go, as two guys brought in pegboard, a backer for the shelves.

A little after 6:30 p.m., the first two pegboards were up and by 7:15, one and a half rows of the shelf walls had been assembled.

“We got it down now, because we figured out our roles. My role is to hold a wall,” said Jerry Alberico, 47, of East Dedham, on the quick progress that was made after the first few pegboards were set up.

“I’m a tax accountant. I don’t know anything about construction,” joked Alberico, who was one of the volunteers from the Knights of Columbus. A couple dozen people turned out in all.

After two decades in its original home in the basement of St. John’s United Methodist Church, the pantry is beginning a new era at Dedham Plaza, where owner Federal Realty Investment Trust has donated a 1,500-square-foot space. That is nearly double the 800 or so square feet the pantry had at St. John’s.

“We’re thrilled. This is a lot bigger,” providing lots of possibilities, King said. “I think we’re going to end up with a lot more shelf space.”

Clients will do their shopping in two of the rows created from the shelving. Another row, against the back wall, will be used for storage.

Joe Denisi, 79, who volunteers for the pantry with his wife through St. Susanna’s Parish, said the new place is “fabulous, fabulous” because it is all on one floor.

“Older people and handicapped had a hard time going up the stairs” at St. John’s, said Denisi, who lives in Riverdale. “Here you walk right through.”

Co-President Rob Naser echoed that point, while noting that the new space also provides more light, and is close to the Washington Street bus line.

The pantry will serve families one last time at St. John’s this Saturday, Jan. 16, then open at Dedham Plaza the following Saturday, Jan. 23.

Naser said the move-in doesn’t seem like a lot of work, but it was. All the lights and ceiling tiles were replaced, the bathrooms were redone, and the floors were stripped and refinished.

“There was dust and spiders,” Naser said of the space, which had been used for storage for many years. “Where it was when we first walked in here to where it is now is a night-and-day difference.”

He thanked the many businesses that made donations to help out, from Superior Plumbing’s work on the bathrooms to Griffin Fire & Safety Equipment, which donated three fire extinguishers. Naser said Atent For Rent set up a space heater at cost for the pantry at its old location, which no longer gets heat after the church moved out of its building.

“It’s going to be a great space for the clients,” Naser said. “I think everyone’s real excited that this space is going to work out really, really well for us.”

Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.

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