Neighborhood Food Shelf

The Neighborhood Food Shelf, by far our largest program, had more than 67,000 client contacts in 2012 and distributed 464,000 pounds of food. Each afternoon, Monday through Thursday, 20-35 people with food needs are interviewed. A Wednesday evening session was recently added to the food shelf hours to make it more accessible for working people who are an increasing percentage of our clientele. CES has recently sharpened its focus on its food programming. Since the installation of our new walk-in refrigerator/freezer two years ago, CES has been working to increase the distribution of fresh and frozen foods, including meat, fish, milk, bread, eggs and fresh produce. This increased capacity has been paired with new client-centered programming. We introduced a client choice model for our food shelf, where clients "shop" and choose their groceries from the food shelf rather than have volunteers pull items from the shelves. We believe that when we make the food shelf experience more like a grocery store, we better respect the dignity of our clients. Each month, CES distributes about 20 tons of food through all of the CES food distributions. This food has been donated by congregations, organizations, foundations, partner food banks and individuals or has been purchased from local food banks, often at a reduced rate.