By Michele Morgan Bolton, Globe Correspondent  |  December 10, 2009

The wish list wasn’t fancy, but it was specific, as trustees of the Dedham Food Pantry searched for a new home in recent months after the crushing news that the church basement where they had helped their neighbors for 20-plus years would no longer be available after this fall. A new space had to be at least 1,200 square feet to accommodate the current operation that feeds between 30 and 50 families – and climbing –every week. It had to be accessible to public transportation and couldn’t have stairs, because some clients can’t climb them. The tallest order of all – in this economy – was that the space had to be free.

This month, the wishes were granted.  Federal Realty Investment Trust, which owns the Dedham Plaza, agreed to donate the use of a former hardware store on that Route 1 property. The 1,500-square-foot storefront is big enough to allow for a separation of space so that, for the first  time, people waiting in line to fill two shopping bags with food don’t have to stand outside, often in the rain, as they did before “Our clients are eager to know the details of when we are going to move,’’ said Janine Murphy, a trustee of the pantry. “And this helps our missions for the elderly and disabled.’’   Murphy said pantry workers are “feverishly’’ readying the space so it might open as soon as mid-January, she said.

The Dedham Food Pantry is an all-volunteer, grass-roots organization that relies completely on donations. Trustees and directors spend $4,000 a month on food for thousands of residents. For over two decades, the supplies have been distributed from a basement room under St. John’s United Methodist Church.  The imposing stone building in Oakdale Square shut its doors recently after the small congregation could no longer afford to pay for repairs and $10,000 heating bills. Services were moved out of the 100-plus-year-old church to a school building across the yard, and the pantry will be warmed with space heaters until it moves to its new home, trustees said.  In past months, the pantry had sought help from the town, school district, and other churches in the area as it searched for space, but nothing was a good fit. Then, state Representative Paul McMurtry, a Dedham Democrat, reached out to Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust.   “We were delighted to help the Dedham Food Pantry find a home this holiday season,’’ said Don Briggs, president of Federal Realty Boston. “When [McMurtry] inquired if Federal Realty had space available, we found the organization a location in Dedham Plaza to continue their mission of serving the local community.’’   Families in nee are directed to the pantry by agencies such as the Dedham Youth Commission.