The number of residents visiting Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries’ (SSKP) Clinton food pantry and meal site is up significantly over last year, says the group’s executive director, Patricia Dowling—and the need, she says, is increasing.

“Our Clinton pantry served 1,500 residents in all of 2014. In the first three quarters of 2015, we served 1,583 residents, and we’ve distributed 20,000 more meals over this time last year.”

According to Dowling, the majority of people using SSKP’s services are working adults facing unforeseen hardships. Many have had their wages reduced or full-time positions cut to part-time hours.

“Their income is not enough to allow them to be self-sufficient,” she says. “Complicating factors are large, unpaid medical bills and a lack of affordable housing, especially on the shoreline. These are not usually long-term needs. Most of our guests are residents who use our services for a brief time to get through a difficult period in their lives.”

About a third of the guests at SSKP’s Clinton meal site and food pantry are under 18. One in 10 are 65 or older. The rest are ages 19 to 64.

“This is usually our busiest time of year because of increased costs associated with heating, the holidays, and the need for coats and warm clothing,” says Dowling. “There are a lot of needs this time of year.”

SSKP has one part-time pantry manager in Clinton and several dozen volunteers.

“We have about 65 weekly volunteers in town who handle a number of responsibilities, including sorting, shelving, distributing food, meal preparation, picking up bread donations, and helping people carry groceries to their cars. We are very volunteer-focused, and we’re flexible—we have people who staff our pantry or meal site every week, once a month, or once a year. Some have been with us since the beginning.”

SSKP was established in 1989 at the fellowship hall of the First Baptist Church in Essex. Known then as the Shoreline Soup Cellar: An Interfaith Community Service, it was founded on the principle that communities should take care of their own people. (Traditionally, residents of shoreline towns who were in need were directed to cities to receive support and services.) Another of the organization’s core philosophies is that guests of the soup kitchen are nourished not only by a warm meal but also by the dignity that comes from sharing a meal with others. In this spirit of food and fellowship, volunteers and guests are encouraged to sit and eat together.

By 2007, SSKP had eight meal sites and four food pantries in 11 towns. In 2009, a fifth pantry was added in Niantic.

SSKP operates on Wednesdays in Clinton, with meals served from 5 to 6 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 22 Commerce Street, and a food pantry open from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. at First Church of Christ, Congregational, 55 Church Road.

“One of the best things happening in Clinton is the monthly Social Services Help Day, coordinated by Cheryl Church,” says Dowling. “It allows for all the guests of our pantry to learn about and get connected with other services they might need, such as food stamps, health insurance, housing assistance, childcare assistance, and home heating.”

Church is coordinator for Clinton’s Social Services Department.

“Cheryl has a great knowledge of the helping programs,” says Dowling, “and she assists people with filling out complicated forms and applications. We have a real solid resource in her. We also work with Connecticut Food Bank’s mobile food pantry, social services providers from the state of Connecticut, the Estuary [Senior Center], Meals on Wheels, and two wonderful gardens in Clinton—one called Food for All, managed by Church of the Holy Advent Episcopal Church, and one maintained by St. Mary’s Church of the Visitation. In the growing season, these gardens provide amazing, local, fresh, organic, low-impact vegetables.”

For those interested, SSKP holds volunteer orientation sessions once a month.

“At the orientation, you can find out what kinds of jobs are available and what help is needed,” says Dowling.

“We can always use food donations, and from now until the end of the year, monetary contributions go twice as far, thanks to the Gowrie Group Challenge.”

The Gowrie Group is an independent insurance agency with offices in Westbrook and Darien, as well as locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Now in its 12th year, the Gowrie Group Challenge, which matches community members’ donations dollar for dollar, has raised nearly $1 million for SSKP.

Donations may be made online at www.shorelinesoupkitchens.org (click Donate and choose Gowrie Challenge) or mailed to The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries, Attn: Gowrie Group Challenge, P.O. Box 804, Essex, Connecticut 06426.