05/29/2026
Sorry for the long post but please help me make this make sense! (and if you can't, please help me and encourage our legislators to change the law)
Bristol Community Services food pantry has been registered as a nonprofit with the state of new hampshire since 1972. When I started here 22 years ago I signed up to receive food from the NH Food Bank. For the last twenty-two years, we have abided by the food banks, policies on safe handling and storage of food. Last year, the food bank created a new handbook. In the handbook they require proof of certification from the state or proof that we are exempt from certification. Having never had any dealings with the state I reached out to ask for a letter saying we were exempt. They said we are not exempt that we needed to be inspected to be certified 😠... 🤔 Why weren't we certified 50 years ago when we applied as a nonprofit food pantry? They had no answer to that. We have nothing to hide in our beautiful new space, I went online to find the appropriate application for a food pantry and found they do not have one. The state *does not* have an application or category that covers food pantries. Since none of the categories applied to us, I filled-out an application for institutions, schools, hospitals because that had a lower cost than the other categories, ($50, which I submitted along with a grocery list of items, our clients would not be receiving because of their fee). I was told that was incorrect, and I had to use the retail store application that comes with a fee of $150. Our food pantry is absolutely *not* a retail store. We do not sell any of the food we receive to cover their fee.
IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. Something else that also doesn't make sense is that soup kitchens ARE exempt. Soup kitchens receive and store food as we do but also prepare and serve it making them more of a risk to public health! So why are soup kitchens exempt, but not food pantries? And why, after operating, for more than 50 years did we not have to be inspected until I reached out to them? I absolutely, cannot make sense of it, please help! And if you're like me and can't make it make sense, please reach out to our representatives in the House, John Sellers and Lex Berezhny and our representative in the Senate , Dan Innis
(And please excuse the condition of the invoice we received, it accidentally got wrinkled in my fit of rage)
