The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center has opened the North End Food Pantry, a satellite location bringing its food pantry and Produce to the People programs to Newport’s North End neighborhood, the center announced.
The new pantry, located in a modular building at 120 Hillside Ave. next to Miantonomi Park, brings the center’s two food programs closer to residents. Center officials said annual client surveys had repeatedly identified the need for greater food access in the North End.
The center distributed just under 1.4 million meals in 2025, up from 226,000 five years earlier, according to the organization.
“So many hard-working families call Newport’s North End home, but services like the pantry haven’t existed until now,” said Heather Hole Strout, the center’s executive director. “I am proud to say that we are answering the call of our community by bringing weekly access to fresh, healthy food and toiletries to Newport’s North End.”
The food pantry program will be open Mondays from 3 to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. The Produce to the People program, which distributes fresh fruits and vegetables, will operate Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. According to the center, food pantry clients receive non-perishable groceries, fresh produce, meat, eggs, milk, bread, pet food, household products and toiletries each month, all at no cost.
The center said the modular building is not a permanent solution but represents a step forward in meeting the community’s needs.
The North End Food Pantry was made possible through the support of the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, additional donors and the City of Newport, according to the organization. The ribbon cutting was attended by Newport City Manager Colin Kennedy, City Councilors Ellen Pinnock and Steph Smyth, MLK Executive Director Heather Hole Strout, MLK Director of Hunger Services Ed Crowley, Marykate Bergen of the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and MLK Board Vice President Rose Hyder.
The MLK Community Center, founded in 1922 and renamed in 1968, said it served more than 8,700 people last year. More information is available at MLKCCenter.org or by calling 401-846-4828.
