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MANCHESTER, NH — The Friday food pantry at the Mark Stebbins Community Center opens at 1 p.m. Some neighbors show up at 11.

Diane Fitzpatrick, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester, initially worried about people having to wait. Then she saw what was happening in the hallway. Neighbors were talking to one another, getting to know the staff and asking about other services.

Eight weeks into operations at the West Side center, the pantry is serving about 60 households a week. On Tuesday, M&T Bank presented a $5,000 check for the pantry and donated 10 refurbished laptops for visitors to use.

“We had a vision, and then we raised the money, we built a building, but this is the most important part: creating community and building trust and getting to know the neighbors,” Fitzpatrick said.

The laptops will give visitors a place to apply for benefits, search for jobs or put together a résumé. They’ll also make it possible to offer classes in the center’s meeting space. Tim Wade, M&T Bank’s New Hampshire regional president, said financial education could cover budgeting, setting goals and learning what assistance people might qualify for.

“How do you do a job search without a computer?” Wade said.

Project manager Jeanine Tousignant said the need for laptops came up as staff were figuring out how people would use the building. The center had space for classes and a navigator to connect people with services. It needed computers that residents could use. The laptop donation follows a $1.5 million contribution from the M&T Charitable Foundation that helped establish the center’s resource hub.

The West Side clubhouse serves about 60 children so far, and the pantry reaches nearly 150 people through the households it serves each week, Tousignant said. Amoskeag Health saw 347 patients in its first week at the center, she said. The clinic offers primary care for all ages and behavioral health counseling.

Tousignant said the collaboration that brought those services under one roof began years before the center opened. At one point, more than 200 volunteers were working on the project across eight committees, she said. People with expertise in housing, real estate, health care and data helped shape the center. Some organizations shared staff expertise or other resources even though they wouldn’t have offices in the building.

The center sits within the Kelly Falls apartment complex and serves the wider West Side. Fitzpatrick said bilingual staff are helping neighbors connect with services, from groceries to fuel assistance. Some connections have already led to jobs. When the company that cleans the center had openings, it hired two people from the neighborhood.

Fitzpatrick plans to hold coffee chats to hear directly from neighbors about what they’d like to see at the center, including people who may lack a car or internet access. Diabetes education through the YMCA is one possibility she said residents have shown interest in.

“We want to make sure the residents have a voice at the table,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s our biggest goal right now.”

Food pantry access and donations

Mark Stebbins Community Center is located at 306 Kimball St., Manchester. The pantry opens at 1 p.m. Fridays. The center lists reusable bags, toiletries, laundry detergent and menstrual products among its current needs. For pantry access, donation drop-off or information about organizing a food drive, call 603-207-1129.Club hours are Monday-Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. For more information on center services, click here.