The Delaware Valley Food Pantry recently celebrated its first birthday at its new location in the CVS Shopping Center in Lambertville, N.J.
While the organization has been feeding families since 1955, it opened its doors next to CVS on July 31, 2019.
And what a year it has been.
The first seven months were business as usual – and then the pandemic hit. The pantry closed briefly for a deep cleaning and then moved its operations outside for the safety of its clients and volunteers.
| “We had to make numerous changes to our operations to keep our volunteers, clients, and suppliers safe, as a first priority,” said Joe McGrath, director of operations. “We made several safety improvements while still providing a continuous flow of much-needed food to our clients. We did all of this with a much reduced number of volunteers, as a number of our regular volunteers chose to opt out for their family’s safety.” Ever since, the pantry continues to serve its clients with pre-packaged bags filled by its hard-working volunteers with additional selections of meat, dairy, and fresh produce. |
Highlights of the year include:
– In the first six months of 2020, the pantry served an average of 1,267 people a month. This was a 25% increase in clients – the largest increase in any six-month period.
– Community support also increased to meet this new demand. Since opening in the CVS Shopping Center, the pantry has been the beneficiary of generous donations from local donors, businesses, community and religious organizations. It would not have been able to continue its work without community support.
– A substantial increase in adult and student volunteer applications.
– The pantry has a new website (delawarevalleyfoodpantry.org) and a Facebook page (Delaware Valley Food Pantry) where community members can stay up to date on pantry news and current needs.
As it heads into their second year at the new location, the Delaware Valley Food Pantry’s “Pandemic Team” of faithful volunteers look forward to feeding all community members in need of extra food. They also want to thank all their local donors, businesses, religious and community organizations for giving them much to celebrate on their first birthday celebration.