Mondays 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Wednesdays 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Fridays 10:00 am – noon
Open to any resident of Worcester County
Carty Cupboard Food Pantry provides a three-day food supplement for hungry individuals and families who find themselves in need, regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, religious affiliation or personal circumstance. Cupboard visitors are kept confidential in a computer database, and are allowed to pick up food once each month.
Food Selection
Food for Carty Cupboard has been chosen to be nutritionally balanced and easy to prepare and serve. Food bags are packed to accommodate the needs of households with one person and families with four or more people.
Essential food items:
- spaghetti and sauce
- macaroni and cheese
- meal-in-a-can
- ready-to-eat soups
- tuna fish
- peanut butter and jelly
- cereal
- rice
- canned vegetables
- canned fruit
Assorted baby items are available for Cupboard visitors with young infants.
Providing the Pantry
Many tons of food for Carty Cupboard are collected and purchased from donors and local providers of low-cost food. In addition to support from Wesley United Methodist Church, Carty Cupboard receives donations of food from the congregations of Epworth United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church of Worcester, First Congregational Church of Worcester, First Unitarian Church of Worcester, and Trinity Lutheran Church. Free bread and other bakery products are donated weekly by local grocery stores, and volunteers make weekly pick-ups of food from the Worcester County Food Bank. All food items are stored in the Cupboard’s pantry area and then packed into individual bags in preparation for distribution.
More than twenty volunteers work to distribute food 52 weeks a year. The many tasks associated with the weekly operation of the Cupboard include picking up, sorting and packing food; helping set up and distribute bags of food; and working on the computer.
Deaconess Bessie Carty
Deaconess Bessie Carty
Carty Cupboard is named in memory of Deaconess Bessie Carty, a beloved woman of Wesley Church. Deaconess Carty spent 50 years of her life, between 1905 and the time of her retirement in 1955, providing faithful and compassionate Christian service to her church and local community by helping to uplift and give comfort to people who fell on hard times. Her years of service spanned two World Wars and a nationwide economic depression. She was concerned about helping people in many different ways, but was most particularly passionate with insuring people were not hungry.
Today, the focus of Deaconess Carty’s legacy is very simple and direct: Carty Cupboard helps to feed hungry people.