All Saints Community Services Food Bank, a partner program of EFN, has been serving the Puyallup area since 1986. The crew consists of one staff member, Outreach Associate Morningstar Stevenson, and about 50 volunteers who all work creatively to make the most of the resources they’ve been given. The space from which they now serve around 800 households a year used to be a garage on the side of the parish office. Today the shelves are lined with diverse foods packed and waiting to be distributed to those in need, with healthy staples like rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits, and, of course, some occasional treats too!
This food pantry serves anyone in need, but they especially have a heart for some of the most vulnerable in our society: seniors who are homebound by disability or illness. All Saints fills the vital need of delivering food directly to neighbors in need. Volunteers answer calls and gather information about households to determine how much food to pack into boxes. Yet more volunteers give their time to deliver the food, a week’s worth at a time. The delivery system requires more effort and coordination, but it is worth it to be able to reach folks who are unable to make it to a food pantry site.
Their efforts amounted to the distribution of over 100,000 pounds of food this past year. Typically, about half of this food is purchased through grant money and financial contributions of parishioners. The other half is donated, some of it from our EFN warehouse! The donated percentage has been gradually increasing, and the pantry hopes it will soon make up the majority of their inventory.
Meeting immediate needs is a priority at All Saints, but their ultimate wish is that people would never have to be hungry in the first place. For this reason they work to identify causes of hunger in their community. Volunteers give young people with disabilities job training so they can make a living wage someday, and All Saints Parish is participating in a Hunger Task Force with likeminded churches to discuss what they can do to help people out of poverty.
All Saints is always looking for ways to expand their outreach. Over the past few years the pantry began a Backpack Program to provide children with food over the weekends during the school year and added a Summer Food Program to feed kids throughout the break. The Backpack Program gave out 4,500 backpacks last year and 371 children were served during the summer. All Saints Community Services also strives to help where they can with other basic needs, connecting people with the SNAP program and assisting with utility bills if needed.
As a church ministry, the food pantry is motivated by values of the Catholic faith, but they hope that people of all beliefs will unite with them in the common goal of serving others. There are plenty of ways to be a part of their work! They are looking for more folks to come help them stock their shelves on weekday mornings, as well as delivery drivers for the afternoons. To get involved, visit their website or call Morningstar Stevenson, (253)-845-7521.