Community volunteers gather around hundreds of bags of non-perishable food to celebrate the new HVAC system installed at the End 68 Hours of Hunger building in Dover thanks to a donation from Dover’s Rotary Club.
Volunteers recently gathered at the End 68 Hours of Hunger building in Dover to celebrate the installation of a mini-split HVAC system funded by the Rotary Club of Dover, NH
Located adjacent to St. Paul’s Methodist Church on Cataract Avenue, the brick building is used to accept, sort and pack non-perishable foods for delivery to local schools and organizations in an effort to ease childhood food insecurity in Dover.
Prior to the installation, the building leased by End 68 Hours of Hunger from the Church, lacked a heat or cooling source and volunteers often worked in sweltering or freezing conditions. According to project organizer Rotarian Melissa Lesniak, volunteers will now be able to pack the non-perishable food with comfortable temperatures throughout the year.
“We look forward to a successful and fun season,” Lesniak said, “helping with food insecurity in the local area in a more comfortable setting at the 68 Hours of Hunger building.”
Lesniak thanked everyone from the Rotary Club of Dover, Friends of End 68 Hours of Hunger, along with the Founder Claire Bloom, Executive Director Lauren Kolifrath, President of the Board of Directors Keith Launchbury, Roland Lapointe and Andrew Lepage from DF Richard, Nick Wentworth from Wentworth Electric, and Steve Smith from Admiral Plumbing & Heating.
Dover Rotary President Cathy Beaudoin also expressed her appreciation to all involved in bringing this project to fruition.
“Rotary was delighted to partner with such a wonderful and well-established community organization, End 68 Hours of Hunger, to provide them a more comfortable environment in which to do their outstanding good work,” Beaudoin said.
A Rotary District grant of $3,965 provided partial funding of the $9,000 project with the balance funded by the Rotary Club of Dover, NH. Dover Rotarians also made a commitment to join other community volunteers once a month to pack and deliver food.
End 68 Hours of Hunger is a public non-profit effort to confront the 68 hours of hunger children experience after Friday’s free lunch at school until Monday’s free breakfast.