Knollwood is a low-income community located in northern New Castle County,
about twelve miles from DSM Somos.
Knollwood is comprised of 150 homes, and about 500 people live there. Many of
these people have low-paying jobs or are unemployed. Some cannot afford to buy
enough food for their families. Free food is available from a "Food Bank" that
is located about twenty miles away, but many of these people do not have cars,
and no public transportation is available.
The new Knollwood Civic Association has acquired a small old office building
for use as a community center. The building is primarily used for programs to
keep children off the streets after school and during summer vacations. The
children, many of whom came from extremely poor families, are also given
nutritious meals and snacks during these programs. These programs provide
learning experiences, constructive activities, and nutritional food for the
children. They have also resulted in a major reduction in crime in the
community.
The Civic Association would like to use the basement of the Community Center
to distribute food to the neighborhood residents. The food bank is willing to
establish a food pantry there, but the center does not currently have the
proper food storage facilities. Space is available, but this space needs to be
modernized and modified in order to make it suitable for the storage and
distribution of food.
The project will entail converting the basement of the Community Center to a
food pantry. Shelves, a refrigerator, and a freezer will be added, and
existing access into the basement from the outside will be improved. A new
sink, countertop and cabinets will be added as a first step toward creating a
small kitchen that will eventually be used to provide meals for the programs
and to teach residents of the community how to prepare nutritious meals for
their families.
Most of the work will be done by a small, independent contractor, but DSM
Somos personnel and neighborhood volunteers will also participate.
The food pantry would be the first one in northern New Castle County. As such,
it would serve an area much larger than Knollwood itself. So it would be able
to provide food for many more people than just the residents of Knollwood.
This would have a major positive impact on the entire area. So, a relatively
small investment could help a large number of people!
