OXFORD — As the months have grown colder, the number of families coming to the Helping Hands Food Pantry in the Oxford Town Office has been growing.

The pantry, which offers dry and fresh foods as well as toiletries to Oxford and Hebron residents experiencing financial difficulty, has helped hundreds of families since opening in May 2011.

In October, the pantry served 78 families. In November, 128. Last month, 175 local families came to the pantry for food, according to organizer Suzanne Grover. She and a staff of other volunteers have been busy stocking the pantry, which includes buying fresh food every week for the refrigerators so people who visit the pantry have access to dairy and produce.

“We’ve been getting a lot of new families,” Grover said Friday. Grover said she suspected the economy, rising prices and cuts to home heating assistance were driving the visits.

To meet the demand, volunteers are buying food in places such as the Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Auburn and bringing it to the pantry.

“It takes a good four or five, six hours to set up,” Grover said. She said the pantry is always looking for more volunteers. Anyone interested can leave contact information at the Town Office.

It helps that local businesses have been generous to the pantry, with about $6,400 coming in between late October and the end of December, according to Oxford Town Manager Michael Chammings. That includes $1,000 donations from Wal-Mart and Peter Laverdiere, who has donated to the pantry before.

Rainbow Federal Credit Union donated $725, and Jim Pittman and Main-Land Development each gave $500. About $950 came in anonymously through collection boxes in local businesses and the Town Office counter.

The pantry is open from noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays on the third floor of the Oxford Town Office, or by appointment.

To receive food, people must come with a note from a local town, church or nonprofit such as Community Concepts indicating they are receiving assistance or are having financial trouble.

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