Elisha's Pantry - Serving Others

Nominated by

Jillian Metz

Presented by

Karen Weeks, Merit Awards Committee

About

Elisha's Pantry has served food and fresh vegetables every Thursday to the community since July 2005! The pantry is located on Yulupa Avenue at a site that was originally a sanctuary shared by Congregation Shomrei Torah and Christ Church United Methodist. Soon, members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church joined in, donating dollars and volunteer hours to the food pantry.

Every Thursday at 4pm, for the past sixteen years, in all kinds of weather from heatwaves to pouring rain, around 100 people drive to the little wooden building in the parking lot of Christ Church to receive food delivered to their cars by the smiling and dedicated volunteers of Elisha’s Pantry. The recipients leave with fresh produce from the adjacent Harvest for the Hungry garden, and nonperishable and other foods purchased from the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Volunteers also provide personal care products as they can, and one volunteer even visits local stores to collect flowers and plants to add to the bags and boxes. Many local stores, restaurants, and bakeries provide donated goods.

Relationships are formed between the volunteers and the recipients, who see each other most weeks. As one volunteer said, "This is the most worthwhile thing I have ever done!"