Local Spotlight: Sheldon Nightingale

If anyone is the face of the Saco Food Pantry, it’s probably Sheldon Nightingale.

Warm, friendly, and always willing to help, Nightingale moved to Saco Island from Limington 7 ½ years ago with his wife, Cherie Nightingale, who is also involved with the pantry.

Nightingale sat down for an interview recently and answered some questions about his work with the food pantry. 

Why did you get involved with the pantry, and how long have you volunteered?

I started five years ago. I was initially asked by a friend if I would volunteer one morning a week to pick up at Shaw’s. From there it just morphed into 20 to 25 hours a week.

What is your position and what does it include?

I’m a member of the board of directors and volunteer coordinator. The president has been out a couple years and I’ve been basically taking the lead for the last two years. It’s a 100 percent volunteer operation. There are no paid positions whatsoever. Except the cleaning lady.

Describe a typical day

As president, I’m responsible for the day-to-day operations. It starts with store pick-ups from Hannaford, Shaws and other donated items from vendors such as Snyder's in Industrial Park. A lot of products are damaged or reaching their expiration date but are still perfectly good.

At Maine Lobster we primarily get Jordan’s red hot dogs. They get orders for other Maine products like Kate’s Butter, and Humpty Dumpty potato chips. It varies. We pick up orders from Shaws and Hannaford six days a week. I typically go in six days a week.

Are you involved with other local organizations?

I volunteer with Age Friendly Saco and the Saco Meals Program as well. The meals program has been around for a long time at Most Holy Trinity, where they have a community meal on Monday and Thursday. It’s free to all. On average about 70 meals a night are served, up to 100.

What’s your favorite part of volunteering?

 I enjoy meeting different people and it makes me feel good to know I helped somebody in a small way. It’s an overall good feeling. Rick (Rickey McDaniel), he puts in about as much time as I do. Good guy. He’s a board member and all-around volunteer.

Are there other ways you help people who come to the pantry?

I sometimes give people rides; there are various ways we try to help in any way we can. Primarily to get good food so it doesn’t go to waste.

What’s the most unusual donation you can think of?

A local fish market donated 2,000 pounds of monkfish.

Any other notable donations?

Just before Christmas a gentleman who lived in this area before and was back for holidays saw the pantry and people waiting. He said he was a little more successful than previously, so he wrote us a check for $1,000. There’s also a man who writes us a $100 check every month.

You are a world traveler. (Nightingale has visited 40 countries.) What difference do you see between the US and other places as far as food insecurity goes?

In America, there’s no reason for people to go hungry; we have more than enough. When it comes to food insecurity Ukraine, before the war, was a fairly affluent country. For example, there’s an older Ukrainian gentleman who comes in and he is just so impressed. His daughter told me it was typical for older people in Ukraine to have to go through trash bins for food – even before the war. It’s not that uncommon. In African countries you see it everywhere. Eighty percent in Zimbabwe don’t get enough to eat, and 60 percent in Zambia.

The poor are destitute; they don’t have government programs to take care of them. They just don't have the same things we do.

About the Saco Food Pantry

Is the organization affiliated with the city?

 No, we’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a separate entity entirely. Up until last year we got no funding, but this year we’re asking them to help. We rely 100 percent on donations.

How many people volunteer?

 At any given time 80. Most do an hour and half or something like that. It varies.

We heard the process has changed. In what way?

Before COVID, people were allowed to shop for themselves with help from volunteers. During COVID people were not allowed in. In September 2023 we went back to shopping. It’s a much better model. Good Shepherd does as well.

We're fortunate we have one of the better pantries; probably in the top 10 in the state due to leadership, donations. We have a building. Donations basically built the pantry and there are people still dedicated to making it work.

What do Saco residents have to do to receive help?

There’s paperwork they have to fill out along with proof of residency.

How many people do you serve?

In 2024 there were 2,684 families. In December we did 316 families with 918 people. We currently have a lot of immigrants being housed at Comfort Inn, 300-plus people who are funded to stay until September.

Ann Fisher is a freelance journalist based in Saco. She can be reached at 432-7483.