By Janet Stoica

Charlton Town Administrator Andrew Golas spoke about not forgetting the neediest of our society this holiday season by referring to the town’s “CHIP IN” program (Charlton Helping Its People In Need).

“In anticipation of the upcoming holidays, we encourage our residents to give back to our neediest by supporting our food pantry CHIP IN. The emergency food pantry is open to Charlton and Dudley residents in need of food assistance and is located to the back of Town Hall. Food applications are required and a visit to the facility offers assistance,” he said.

Residents can bring suggested donations of meats, dairy, grains and produce, both canned and fresh. Monetary as well as food donations are greatly appreciated. Additionally, if you would like to volunteer a few hours monthly, your time would be greatly appreciated. Volunteering would be a wonderful family activity teaching the importance of not only volunteering but also assisting a very worthy cause. 

Darlene Emco-Rollins is Executive Director and looks forward to large and small donations from community members. Emco-Rollins has operated the food pantry for over 20 years and is to be commended for her dedication and service.

The food pantry is located at 37 Main Street in Charlton. Hours of operation are on the third Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., phone: 508-248-3292. Their website is: www.charltonfoodpantry.org.    

Route 20 Warehouse

In other news, site work has officially begun at a new warehouse location 241 Sturbridge Road (Route 20). The tenant has not been identified but the project was approved by Charlton’s Planning Board in 2021. The town website states that the project involves the construction of a 1.4 million square foot single-story high-bay warehouse with 30,000 square feet of office space, 210 loading bays, 500 parking spaces, 250 trailer storage spaces, a storm water management system and water and sewer infrastructure. 

The plans also include off-site roadway improvements on Route 20 including a signalized intersection at the site driveway, widening of Route 20 to add turning lanes on the east and westbound approaches to the intersection and the extension of a culvert conveying McKinstry Brook under Route 20 to accommodate the widening of the road. 

The 221 acres of industrial-zoned land was purchased for $8.5 million by GFI Partners from Greenhill Realty Trust. GFI Partners is a full service real estate developer, operator and investment manager headquartered in Boston with many projects across the country as well as Worcester County.

The site is near the newly constructed 100-foot-tall, 2.8-million-square-foot Amazon First Touch Robotics Sortation Center at 53 Sturbridge Road. Tree House Brewing is between the two industrial sites.

GFI owns and operates industrial properties around the country, mainly in Massachusetts, including the 630,000-square-foot home of Imperial Distributors in Worcester, built on the site of a former U.S. Steel manufacturing facility in the Quinsigamond Village neighborhood.