OXFORD — Helping Hands Food Pantry is starting out 2023 with a welcome message to its clients: there will be no disruption to its services.

The pantry has settled in at its new location at Oxford’s Congregational Church UCC at 252 King Street and will be open today, and again on Jan. 19, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

In February food distribution will be done on the second and 16th, during the same hours.

Spokesperson Linda Hooker told the Advertiser Democrat that if inclement weather occurs on any of these days, the pantry will be open the following day instead.

The food pantry had spent more than a year-and-a-half searching for a new site since Oxford’s old town office on Pleasant Street, where the organization had been based out of for more than a decade, was put on the real estate market. After municipal staff moved to their new location at 127 Pottle Road in September pantry volunteers knew they would not be able to afford to pay for heat and electricity, even if the Pleasant Street building did not sell.

Together with the town’s board of selectmen, Helping Hands considered moving into space at the Community Station Community Center. However, the available area was also unheated and uninsulated. And the cost to upgrade the rec center’s electrical system to accommodate the food pantry’s refrigeration was also too steep.

When it seemed like the only option would be to shut down, the Congregational Church offered space in its basement for Helping Hands to operate from. At the same time, Oxford’s former police chief Mike Ward joined the group as it’s new board president.

After working through December as a test of its new workspace and leadership, Hooker has announced the food pantry will be able to continue its services. She said that any Oxford residents with questions about Helping Hands and its services should call Ward at 207-890-5885 or her at 207-890-4215.