SPCDC Food Pantry

The St. Paul's Community Development Corporation (SPCDC) Food Pantry began as a volunteer project of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 1970. It has since outgrown its closet-sized beginnings and now encompasses a large space in the undercroft of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, maintaining an industrial freezer, accepting fresh vegetable donations daily, and maintaining a leadership role as one of the largest distributors of donated food in Passaic County, NJ. The purpose of the SPCDC Food Pantry is to provide supplemental food assistance to individuals and families who are unable to financially meet their daily nutritional requirements. Our ultimate goal is to develop self-sufficiency in our clients. Our food assistance program is intended as a "hand-up," not a "handout" in helping individuals and families achieve greater stability in their lives. Clients who demonstrate need receive emergency grocery packages each containing an equivalent of 15 meals. We also distribute over 400 turkeys in November during our Thanksgiving Holiday Drive, and provide food to our Emergency Men's Shelter Program. The SPCDC Pantry is operated with help from AmeriCorps*State Members, volunteers from local area churches, civic organizations, as well as Work First NJ and PathStone volunteers. North Porch, an organization operated by a group known as Episcopal Church Women, supports Pantry operations by annually providing emergency supplies and food to over 100 women and new mothers, with special consideration for those awaiting Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) eligibility. Because SPCDC carefully monitors clients through our Efforts to Outcomes Data Management System (ETO, Social Solutions, Inc.), we know that most clients use the SPCDC Pantry only once per year. This is consistent with our mission, which is to be an emergency resource for food assistance. Our goal is not to have participants depend on the SPCDC Pantry for assistance indefinitely. If this pattern emerges, SPCDC connect clients with relevant aid programs throughout the agency, as well as referrals for public assistance, general assistance, social security, and other types of emergency services. In 2014, the SPCDC Food Pantry provided services to 3,880 Heads of Households who in turn were supporting 4,247 dependents (adults & K-12). This level of support equated to 415,620 meals distributed.