With September being Hunger Awareness month, the volunteers at the Food Pantry at Grace Lutheran Church in Chesapeake were often seen in their orange t-shirts as they unloaded food, created packages, or filled out paperwork.
The members at Grace Lutheran have found a way to help meet the physical needs of over 150 families each month without incurring the cost. The church in Chesapeake is one of the USDA food pantries in the area which means that they get free food from the local food bank.
“The food is free to us but there is a lot paperwork that is involved,”said Juanita Urps, the current food pantry coordinator at Grace Lutheran Church in Chesapeake.
Juanita began working with the food pantry 12 years ago. When she started there were only about 50 families that would come in each month, now they have tripled those numbers.
“Everybody knows they can come here,” Juanita said. “We are there for the community.”
There are certain specifications as to who can receive USDA food and Juanita takes on the labor of making sure that each person who receives food has qualified. However, Juanita says that they rarely turn anyone away because of the generosity of the church.
If someone comes in and doesn’t qualify for the USDA food, there are separate donations from the church that can be given to anyone who comes in. Because of the combination of the food they receive from the USDA and donations, the food pantry has a great capacity to love more people.
Grace Lutheran recently went through a stint where they were without a full time pastor. Throughout this time period, the food pantry ministry remained constant.
“During the call process, I was very excited to hear that there was such a vibrant ministry already established at Grace that connected them to the community and showed their heart for living out the gospel, said Rev. Leslie Scanlon, the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church who was just installed earlier this month.
With such an operation going on at the church Juanita gives much of the credit for the success of the ministry to the volunteers who come distribute food to clients every Monday from 9:00-12:45, who use their skills to do the necessary office work, and who help load and unload the mass quantity of food that comes from the food bank.
“We have a lot of volunteers who love doing this as much as I do,” said Juanita.
Pastor Leslie Scanlon believes that it is vitally important for living out the Gospel in tangible ways to be a part of Church.
“Like the song goes: ‘the church is not a building, where people go to pray,’” said Pastor Leslie Scanlon. “If we are not feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, and comforting those who are downtrodden, then we are missing out on chances to glimpse the kingdom of God—that is the eternal, abundant life that God wants for us right here and now in addition to the future.”
If you are interested in exploring the option of starting a USDA food pantry at your church, Juanita said that there are several rules and regulations that come into play.
“First you would need to approach your local food bank and they would come out to your location,” she says. They would help to see if your location meets the necessary requirements.
I asked Juanita what has kept her going all these years and her answer was simple.
“I just love it,” she said. “I love being with the people. Everybody has a story and if you give them the opportunity, they will tell it to you.”
