BLANCHESTER — A new food donation container is officially opening in Blanchester.

At Thursday’s village council meeting, Mayor John Carman told the council and attendees that the food donation container from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) would open on Saturday, Oct. 27 at noon at the Municipal Building on Cherry Street.

The container will have 24/7 access for people to get food if needed, and to make donations.

The UFCW is handling maintaining and restocking donations. There will also be a list at the container of what can be donated.

“We’ve had some discussions about, with winter coming, making sure the items don’t freeze,” said Carman, adding it’ll be monitored on a daily basis.

The container was approved at the Aug. 9 council meeting where Rob Woolridge of UFCW spoke about the proposed food donation container. He and Carman spoke about the best placement for it.

After they walked around the municipal building, they determined that to the right of the police department’s entryway would be the best plocation. This would also provide lighting at night.

Police Chief Scott Reinbolt stated at the meeting that, as long as everyone understands that there may be disruptions beside it at times, he is fine with the box there. The container would be moved if at any point it becomes an issue.