Local food pantry is helping vulnerable area residents

LEAMINGTON — A Leamington businessman has found a way to give back to the community.

Shawn Chaudhry, the owner of Parkdale Store and Auto Service on Seacliff Drive, set up a food pantry outside his store in April.

“It began as a way to help the community during the COVID pandemic,” he said.

Now, Chaudhry hopes to make it a permanent fixture at his store.

Shawn Chaudhry poses with his food pantry at Parkdale Store and Service on Seacliff Drive in Leamington.

The story began when a regular customer came in with his young son to purchase bread. When the son picked up a candy bar, the father told him they could not afford it. Chaudhry gave the candy to the boy, and the idea of a food pantry for the less fortunate was born.

He began this quest by filling the pantry with items from his store, which included non-perishable items such as rice, canned goods and pasta.

As time passed, the pantry has evolved into a community project, with several people dropping off food for the pantry all week long.

He’s even getting flats of peppers, cukes and tomatoes donated, and the response has been terrific.

“I find this community to be very generous,” he said. “It’s a way to pay back and think about those less fortunate.”

Chaudhry moved here from Mississauga when he purchased the business a couple of years ago and he loves Leamington.

Although the pantry has been broken into overnight three times, he’s undeterred in his quest to get the food to the people who need it most.

“Seeing people get emotional when they are picking things up from the pantry, makes me feel honoured and blessed,” he said.

The pantry is open from 7 am until 11 pm, when the store is open. Anyone wishing to donate goods to the pantry can stop in at the store and talk to Shawn.

The store is located at 40 Seacliff Drive West in Leamington.

There is also small food pantry across the street at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and another located at the corner of Marlborough Street East and Erie Street South.

The full pantry. Photo submitted