Friday: Stocking The Little Pantry
The Food Pantry is open every Saturday and serves around 250 families each week. But the work starts on Friday, when purchased and donated food begins to come in. Volunteers work from 9am to 1pm, unloading trucks, shopping local stores for discounted items and stocking the shelves in preparation for Saturday morning.
The pantry relies on these volunteers to help make each week successful. Once the pantry is full and the food has been stowed away, any upkeep needs are addressed. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit our volunteer calendar.
Saturday: Shopping at The Little Pantry
Step inside the door of The Little Pantry on any given Saturday morning and the first area you will see is our living room. As the morning progresses, this room begins to fill with people waiting to shop. While waiting, you can help yourself to snacks and coffee. You'll always find the room in good spirits and probably get caught up in singing along to a little Al Green. Promptly at 10am, our volunteers begin to pair up with our guests. They will walk the aisles together, making sure each shopper is able to select the foods they need. After they've chosen the items they can use for the week, our volunteers help them pack their items into bags. This one-on-one setting allows for a personal experience and friendly interaction to make our guests feel welcome, supported and encouraged. Once the shopper is ready to go, the volunteer begins working with another shopper.
Throughout the morning while some are shopping, there are often other services being offered. It's not uncommon to find a volunteer helping with resumes, a local banker offering financial education or a barber offering hair cuts and beard trims. The Little Pantry believes in addressing the needs of its' neighbors, whatever that need may be. Sometimes what we do at The Little Pantry has very little to do with food.
The Little Pantry with a Big Heart
From the moment someone walks through our doors, they receive a warm welcome. We never turn visitors away. We feel that we have an opportunity to build confidence and dignity with every interaction. We realize that each guest is a real person - not just a person in need.
To learn more about what a day at the Pantry is like, take a look at the video below.