SWEDEN — Board members and friends of the Sweden Food Pantry received a call from the orchardist at Pietree on Nov. 1 saying apple gleaning could take place Tuesday afternoon between 1 and 4 p.m.

A team from Sweden arrived at the orchard at 1 p.m., including Executive Director Linda Bradley, board members Miriam Gibely and Nancy Michaud, and friends of the pantry Dell Foss and Susan Ware.

Bradley said, “These women were fantastic. We picked 250 pounds of Cortlands, Bonkers and Crimpson Crisp. Thank you, Pietree. It was a beautiful day for apple picking. By the next day, there was a frost,” according to a news release from the food pantry.

The Sweden Food Pantry serves the towns of Sweden, Lovell, Fryeburg, Stow, Stoneham and Waterford, but no eligible individual or family is turned away. In fact, larger families from Bridgton make up 25-30% of the pantry’s clients.

The pantry is open to the community on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 137 Bridgton Road, Sweden. The pantry is located in the basement of the Sweden Community Church, near Sweden’s Four Corners, at the intersection of Route 93 and Waterford Road.

Emergency food boxes are available. To arrange for emergency service, call the pantry at 207-647-5735.

For more information, visit swedenfoodpantry.org or find the pantry on Facebook.

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