Proctor Journal

For 26 years, the Proctor Food Shelf operated in the small basement room at 415 Second Street. Next month it will move to a new location.

On Monday, volunteers began the process of moving over 4,000 pounds of food from the former Life House Building to Forbes United Methodist Church.

Life House purchased the building from Proctor Alanon in 1996 for Proctor House, a transitional living program for five homeless young men ages 16-21.

The building was recently sold and the owner gave the Proctor Food Shelf until the end of June to move. Last minute negotiations between the Food Shelf managers, the realtor and the unidentified new owner, extended the deadline an additional 30 days.

The doors will officially open at Forbes on Wed., July 22 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Forbes is located at 33 Grove St. in Proctor.

Food Shelf managers are expected to be at the City Council meeting Monday to discuss a permanent building on the north side of City Hall. They hope to build a 30x40-foot building.

A new structure will solve the problems of flooding, mold, inadequate space and handicap accessibility, all of which had to be contended with in the Life House space.

The number of food shelf visits in Proctor has tripled over the past few years. The number of families using the Proctor Food Shelf has topped 75 per month, for a total of about 2,150 pounds of food.