Pantry day is the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m.
Palmyra’s Epworth United Church is home to a group of volunteers dedicated to helping the less fortunate in Palmyra, Riverton and Cinnaminson. The Bread of Life Food Pantry, a member of the Food Bank of South Jersey, has been in business for almost eight years and is now serving more than 100 families each month, and it’s still growing.
“Let’s face it — if you have to cut back, one place you can cut back is food,” pantry CEO Dale Neas said.
Neas is at the pantry every Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. and every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. collecting donations. While he says most of the donations come from the 13 local churches that collect for the pantry, he does get donations from residents as well. The Food Bank of South Jersey also provides the pantry with food.
Pantry day is the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Neas says the pantry holds pantry day toward the end of the month because that’s when families in need tend to run out of money and food. Families show up to the church as early as 8:30 a.m. and have coffee and snacks while they wait for their food.
The pantry is a well-oiled machine, with all regular families and individuals being entered into a computer system once they have been deemed qualified. After they check in, the families fill out a “menu” of foods they would like to take home. Volunteers pack bags for the families and will even carry the bags to the car for them.
Neas says this is different from how many pantries run. Instead of the one generic bag of food many pantries give out, these families get five or more bags of personalized groceries. Neas also says only about half of the families check off every item on the menu.
While the pantry does have approximately 20 consistent volunteers, Volunteer Coordinator Julie Scheffler says people will often walk by the pantry on pantry day and stop in to help.
“We’re consistently getting four or five new families every month,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler was a volunteer at a different local pantry before bringing one to her home church in Palmyra.
Neas says local Boy Scouts made the Bread of Life Food Pantry what it is today.
“They built this pantry, everything was painted, they repaired the wall,” Neas said. “It was a wreck [prior.]”
On pantry day, Epworth United Methodist Church also holds an event called Mary’s Closet. The church collects clothing for youth in good condition and allows families to take clothing with them at no cost. The church collects donations for Mary’s Closet on the third Friday of each month from 4 to 7 p.m.
To be qualified to get food from the Bread of Life Food Pantry, you must live in Palmyra, Cinnaminson or Riverton, have proof of address, identification and proof of qualifying need, such as using Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Women, Infants and Children Program, being a low-income household or having an emergency such as recent divorce, domestic violence or sudden loss of employment. Documentation must be provided. Neas says these requirements are in place due to the food the pantry receives from the Food Bank of South Jersey.
To learn about volunteer opportunities, contact Scheffler at [email protected]. To learn more about the pantry, visit http://breadoflifepantry.webs.com or call Neas at (609) 706–0439.
