NEW: Shrewsbury Food Pantry Receives Help from Prison Inmates

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Wednesday, May 09, 2012

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Worcester County Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis with a member of the Inmate Community Service Program at the Human Services Food Pantry.

Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis recently provided free inmate labor to a local food pantry for some much needed shelf stocking.

After the Human Services Food Pantry in Shrewsbury requested some help, Sheriff Evangelidis used the Inmate Community Service Program to assist the shelter in stocking its shelves with over 6,000 pounds of food. Those items will be distributed throughout the month.

The inmate labor provided the pantry with thousands of dollars in savings, and Evangelidis thinks the program benefits everyone involved.

“The Inmate Community Service Porgram has provided a true win-win for the Town of Shrewsbury and for the Sheriff’s Department,” Evangelidis said. “Our inmate crews are able to complete many worthy projects at local food pantries, public school buildings, the council on aging, DPW and local collaboratives at little or no cost.”

The size of the Inmate Community Service Program has more than doubled since Evangelidis took office in 2011. It is estimated that the program has saved Shrewsbury organizations a combined $23,000 over the last year. The pantry’s director Joanne Keagan expressed gratitude for the program’s assistance.

“We can not thank Sheriff Evangelidis enough for providing the Inmate Community Service Program to help our Human Services Food Pantry today,” Keagan said. “This is truly a tremendous program that has provided a great service and benefit to our food pantry.”

The inmate workforce is comprised of non-violent, non-sex offender individuals approaching the end of their sentences. Inmates must earn a spot in the program through good behavior. For more information on the program, click here.