Framingham pantry Daniel's Table moves to temporary digs as new building is planned

Jesse Collings, The MetroWest Daily News

FRAMINGHAM —Daniel's Table, a local nonprofit that fights food insecurity, has moved to temporary digs as it awaits construction of a new home for some time in 2025.

The organization has moved around the corner from its old headquarters at 10 Pearl St. into a temporary location at 56 Park St. The Pearl Street building, which also formerly housed a Registry of Motor Vehicles, is being demolished to make way for a six-story, mixed-use building — with Daniel's Table occupying the ground floor.

Daniel's Table has agreed to a 99-year lease at the to-be-constructed building, where it will occupy about 7,000 square feet.

Carolyn Lameri, center, a volunteer at Daniel's Table, assists a shopper during the opening day of the nonprofit's farmers market inside its new temporary location at 56 Park St. in Framingham, April 24, 2024. Daniel's Table's headquarters at 10 Pearl St. will be demolished and then replaced with a six-story, mixed-use building, with the nonprofit occupying the ground floor.

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"We have been in that old building at 10 Pearl St. since 2017, and up until as recently as a few months ago, people were coming in to look at doing something at the old Registry," Sandra Montesino, an executive team member with Daniel's Table, told the Daily News.

Daniel's Table says it's offering all of its usual services at temporary site

Daniel's Table hosted its last weekly farmers market food pantry at the Pearl Street location on April 17. Its team then quickly disassembled the set-up, then scrambled to put it back together at the temporary Park Street site so as not to miss a week of service.

"We were very aware that people are counting on our food each week, and we knew we could not close," Montesino said.

She said Daniel's Table is offering all of the services it provided at its previous location, thanks to contributions from community members.

Eggs and meat were made available at the Daniel's Table farmers market inside the nonprofit's temporary location at 56 Park St. in Framingham, April 24, 2024.
Eggs and meat were made available at the Daniel's Table farmers market inside the nonprofit's temporary location at 56 Park St. in Framingham, April 24, 2024.

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"Our freezer program, which is using donated or rescued food to create frozen meals that are then placed in freezers across the city to help food insecure residents, was not going to be viable at the Park Street location," Montesino said. "But Bronzetti's, which is across the street, is allowing us to use their kitchen to keep the program going during the renovations.

"I can't say enough nice things about (owner) Bubba Bronzetti for letting us use his kitchen."

Mattie Schadt, a volunteer from Ashland, helps out with the farmers market at Daniel's Table on Park Street, April 24, 2024.
Mattie Schadt, a volunteer from Ashland, helps out with the farmers market at Daniel's Table on Park Street, April 24, 2024.

Demand for food pantries and the pressure of food insecurity has grown in recent years throughout the region. In fact, Montesino said demand for services at Daniel's Table is at an all-time high.

"Last week was a record-breaking week in terms of registering new families — we're seeing such a huge increase in demand," Montesino said. "We added 34 families just last week, and that is on top of the more than 125 new households we've already added in 2024."

Montesino said she expects Daniel's Table to move back to Pearl Street in about 18 months.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham food pantry Daniels Table moves to temporary site

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