Spring is a long way off, but volunteers from the Westport Food Pantry are already prepping for the growing season ahead.

Last week, volunteers started building a shed at the pantry’s small plot at the old Town Farm on Drift Road. Last season was their first at the plot and while it was a successful first run, the lack of storage space at the garden made the spring, summer and fall a bit more difficult than they had to be.

But the pantry recently received an anonymous grant which allowed officials to purchase materials and pay local contractor Bryan Lima, of Dogwood Construction, to help build a shed on site. It will be useful for storing shovels, hoes and hoses, and other needed equipment without having to truck it in and out.

“We were very happy” to receive the grant, the pantry’s Christine Conway said, adding that the cost was $7,000 or $8,000 — they could have bought a prefab shed cheaper, but wanted to keep the money local.

The grant was also enough to allow the purchase of another necessity, a walk-in cooler which has already been installed at the pantry’s operation in the first floor of the Grange building at 931 Main Road.

With that cooler now in place, she said, Westport will now be able to distribute dairy products during their regular Monday food distribution hours. This coming Monday will likely be the first that those products are distributed to those in need.