Saint Luke's Food Pantry
9:30am to 11am Thursdays--enter at Park Street entrance
Food. It is the staple of life, yet many families, even those who receive public assistance, have empty cupboards. For more than 10 years, Saint Luke’s Food Pantry has helped those with sudden job loss, illness, or unexpected expenses fill those cupboards. Most St. Luke’s Food Pantry visitors walk away with enough food for 3-5 days.
In an average month, the pantry now serves about 60 people. How does this happen? People like you donate food items and support the pantry financially. We appreciate this help and cannot continue without it. However, due to an increase in pantry visitors and the resulting empty shelves, we have been researching ways to supplement our food supply. As a result, we have made the decision to join forces with the Good Shepherd Food Bank and the Wayside Soup Kitchen Food Rescue Program. Both programs provide access to more food at a discounted rate, for instance Good Shepherd provides food at roughly 17 cents per pound. Cathedral volunteers have offered their truck and time to make this happen and we are very thankful to them and the other volunteers who are working to support these changes.
PLEASE KEEP YOUR DONATIONS COMING! Our use of the Food Rescue and Good Shepherd programs are a supplement to, not a replacement of our regular pantry stocks.
New Procedures at the Food Pantry
In order to participate in these supplemental programs, the Food Pantry must require identification and household income information from all those who visit the pantry. This is a one-time request and copies of this paperwork will be kept on file for subsequent visits. However, pantry visitors will be limited to one visit per month. We hop this will encourage visitors to make use of the pantry for emergencies, for which the pantry was initially created. The rise in gas and food prices has had a direct effect on the number of pantry visitors, many of them new faces. As this trend continues, we expect the pantry needs to grow. We appreciate your continued support of this important ministry and welcome your ideas to improve the process. Please contact the Parish Office at 772-5434 or email office@cathedralofstluke.org if you have any comments or suggestions.
We need your help—Volunteer with the Food Pantry!
Can you spare two hours once a month to help people in need? The Food Pantry needs volunteers. The pantry is open every Thursday from 9:30-11am. Volunteers generally arrive around 9am, to be sure all the food is organized and on the shelves before the pantry opens, and then leave right after the pantry closes. It is our goal to have two volunteers per week, but right now we have a core group of just five volunteers covering a whole month. If you are interested in joining the Food Pantry team, please call the Parish Office at 772-5434 or email office@cathedralofstluke.org.
