This fall, the Andover Pumpkin Patch on Route 6 sent all of its proceeds to the Andover Food Pantry. The Andover Volunteer Fire Department is asking that checks for its November turkey drive be made out to the same pantry. The pantry also hosts the Mobile Foodshare truck in its parking lot on alternating Wednesday mornings. All three point to one building, the Historic Meeting House behind the church at 359 Route 6.
Andover's holiday season can look like a scattered list of church sales, firehouse drives and senior center sign-ups. Look at where each one sends what it collects and most of the list comes back to two short stretches of road. One is the church and library block on Route 6. The other is School Road, where the firehouse, Town Hall and the Community & Senior Center sit. Once you know which stretch handles what, the next six weeks are much easier to plan.
The Meeting House Takes In Almost Everything
The Andover Food Pantry is run entirely by volunteers. It operates out of the Historic Meeting House on the First Congregational Church property at 359 Route 6. Its director is Joan Soucy, and the town lists her contact as 860-208-3226. The parking lot is on Long Hill Road, between the church and the Andover Public Library at 355 Route 6.
The pantry runs on two schedules:
- Monday evenings: open every week from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Every other Wednesday morning: the pantry and the Mobile Foodshare truck take turns in the church parking lot. On truck weeks, the truck runs from 9 to 9:30 a.m. On pantry weeks, the pantry is open from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Foodshare posts the truck dates on its mobile pantry schedule.
Each household can use both schedules in the same week:
Clients can come to one pantry per week to receive food, and one Mobile Foodshare truck distribution in Andover during the same week.
That rule is why the drives matter as much as they do. The Monday pantry and the Wednesday truck are separate sources of food. The truck is supplied through Foodshare. What stocks the Monday shelves is whatever residents, churches and the fire department bring in. The town asks that all food and money go directly to the pantry, and it lists a mailing address for checks: P.O. Box 55, Andover, CT 06232.
Getting to the lot from some directions takes longer right now. Long Hill Road has been closed at the Hop River since May 13, 2026, for a bridge replacement, and the town's closure notice expects it to stay closed through approximately December 2026. The town advises following the posted detours and allowing extra travel time.
Saturday, Nov. 14 Uses Both Stretches
The busiest Saturday of the month has events on both of Andover's giving stretches. The Rivereast News Bulletin's Oct. 23 issue listed a church sale on Route 6 and a firehouse collection on School Road, with overlapping hours. Here is how the day runs:
- 9 a.m.: The Clothing & Linen Sale opens at Andover Congregational Church, 359 Route 6. The church is collecting donations ahead of the sale, and items can be left on the cement ramp at the back of the church. The church office number is 860-742-7696.
- 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: The Andover Volunteer Fire Department collects donations at the firehouse on School Road. Its goal is 100 turkeys for the Andover Food Pantry, and it also needs stuffing and monetary donations. Checks should be made out to Andover Food Pantry.
- 2 to 3 p.m.: The church sale switches to a bag sale for its last hour.
- 3 p.m.: The sale closes.
One trip can cover both. Drop off a turkey and a check on School Road during the firehouse window, then stop at the church while the sale is still on. For anyone clearing closets before the holidays, the cement ramp behind the church takes linens and clothing ahead of the sale.
School Road is also home to most of the town's civic buildings. Town Hall is at 17 School Road, and its Community Room was the voting location for the Nov. 3 election. The Andover Community and Senior Center is at 25 School Road. That puts the firehouse turkey drive within a short stretch of the place where the holiday gift program is organized.
The Giving Tree Closes the Day Before
The Andover Community and Senior Center's Giving Tree runs on a slightly earlier deadline. According to the Rivereast's Oct. 30 issue, the center is taking applications through Nov. 13. It wants to hear from families in need this holiday season and from anyone interested in donating gifts. Both groups should call 860-742-7305, ext. 4510.
So the pantry covers food and the Giving Tree covers gifts. The town's Social Services page says the department supports holiday programs, including a Wishing Tree and a Toy Drive, and works with the Andover Food Pantry. Because the Giving Tree deadline falls the day before the turkey drive, Nov. 13 is the day to finish gift sign-ups and Nov. 14 is the day for food.
The center keeps its usual weekly calendar through all of this. Its Friday Lunch Bunch outing on Nov. 13 is at noon at Andover Pizza, and the Nov. 20 lunch is at Gina Marie's Restaurant. The center is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.
December Has Followed the Same Pattern
Andover's December events have sent their donations to the same two places. For December 2025, The Chronicle's regional holiday roundup listed an Andover Volunteer Fire Department Food and Toy Drive at 11 School Road for families in town and for the Andover Food Pantry. Its "Stuff the Truck" challenge collected new, unwrapped toys. The department also asked for boxed potatoes, boxed stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pie filling, baking mixes, and frozen hams and turkeys. The same roundup listed a free Friends of Andover Library concert by Christmas in New England at the First Congregational Church of Andover, 359 Route 6. Donations went to the Andover Public Library.
The December date already confirmed for 2026 is Saturday, Dec. 19. On that day, Wreaths Across America lists a noon ceremony in Andover, with wreaths placed right after it. The group lists three Andover sites:
- Andover Townsend Cemetery, 43 Townsend Rd.
- Andover Congregational Church Cemetery, listed at 359 Jonathan Trumbull Hwy., the church's own street number
- Olde Andover Burial Ground, 15 Hebron Rd.
Volunteers should confirm the opening ceremony's meeting point on the group's page before Dec. 19. In September, the Rivereast News Bulletin reported that the program was returning to Andover and invited volunteers to help lay the ceremonial wreaths.
The church property's role in the season grows with that date. The same 359 address that holds the pantry, the Monday distribution, the Wednesday truck and the November clothing sale also holds one of the three cemeteries on the Dec. 19 list.
If clearing out a house is part of your plans this season, whether you're downsizing, settling an estate or getting ready to list in the spring, the cement ramp behind the church and the Saturday, Nov. 14 sale are a practical first stop for linens and clothing. When you're ready to talk about the house itself, Cindy Muska can take you through what comes next. Call or text her for a Free Home Valuation.
