Stephens City Food Pantry Assists Needy Families, Seeks Community Donations

The food support ministry of Stephens City United Methodist Church (SCUMC) has been in operation since 2004, gradually evolving into a fully operational food pantry.  The ministry began as an effort to provide groceries to a handful of families in the Stephens City area.  This food was sorted by volunteers, and then distributed by the church secretary, to approximately eight to twelve families once per month.  When Martha Dale and Diane Foreman, who provided this service retired in 2008, Cathy Ritter and Pat Konschak transitioned the food service to a small room (now the church library) distributing groceries on a weekly basis.  The pantry service began to expand by supporting more needy families beyond Stephens City into the South Frederick, North Warren, and Shenandoah County areas.  The food pantry again required more space and relocated to several rooms in the church basement where it exists today.

According to former SCUMC Food Pantry Manager, Cathy Ritter, the pantry was graciously supported by several local churches and the Stephens City Lions Club to assist with donations to fund the increase in services.  “USDA food distributions also became available as the economy languished.  The pantry received an old freezer donated by the church from the renovated kitchen and a refrigerator donated by Tom and Nancy Hollis twenty years ago.  We received two new refrigerators/freezers through the Blue Ridge Food Bank, using USDA grant funds.  Volunteers also shopped around for needed grocery, and hygiene items weekly.  Toilet paper, soap, shampoo, deodorant, laundry detergent, and fresh meats became essentials.  Volunteers began making direct deliveries to homebound persons,” Ritter said.

Former Food Pantry Manager Cathy Ritter with current Executive Director Cookie Shank at the 2023 United Women of Faith Christmas Gathering.  Courtesy Mary E. Powell.

During the pre-pandemic period, guests would arrive by appointment and wait in a sitting room while their groceries were being prepared by volunteers.  “COVID required that the process be changed to utilizing a drive-thru style, boxes and bags of items being placed by volunteers into guest vehicles on line in the parking lot. This method of distribution has remained in place post-COVID because the process moves faster and serves more people,” said Ritter.

Modest-wage-earner families are economizing and shopping at thrift stores as they attempt to meet the challenges of rising costs.  The surge in population and increased cost of housing in our community has added stress on resources and made it much harder for modest wage earners to make ends meet.  Those with modest incomes struggle to pay for housing, groceries, childcare, health care, and education, among other necessities. Families with children living in at-risk situations depend on local food pantries to save enough money to pay rent.  Keeping families stable in the same home helps children to remain in one school and prevents them from experiencing the loss of family members, friends, and familiar neighborhoods.

Volunteers

Current Executive Director Cookie Shank began volunteering in 2009 and took over management of the pantry from Ritter in 2018.  Kim DeGroot purchased the food stocks, submitted grant proposals, and assisted Shank with tracking inventory.  In 2023, Diane Clawson became the Church Trustee liaison, sharing information between the food pantry and the church council.  Shank said there are approximately 30 volunteers who help the pantry run on a regular basis to ensure its efficient operations.  The positions include upkeep of the computer database, inputting intake forms from new guests (including various paperwork and follow-up), purchasing meats and cleaning items, picking up donations from grocery stores, stocking food, sorting and organizing food items, packing guest boxes, and overseeing the food distribution, both at the church drive-thru and direct deliveries to guests’ homes.

Stephens City UMC Food Pantry Team was working on a cold Tuesday, December 19 afternoon.  Courtesy Marty Barley.

Some of our volunteers do not attend church at SCUMC but like the feeling of helping others.  Jeff Constable is a Stephens City resident who does not attend any church but volunteers at SCUMC because he gets the opportunity to be in the trenches, so to speak, with the people who drive in to receive the food.  Jeff, who has volunteered at the church for five months, says he enjoys the experience of loading vehicles with bags of groceries, knowing it will have an immediate effect on that specific family.

Rich McManus lives in Lake Frederick and used to volunteer in a food bank warehouse in Winchester.  He also sought a position working directly with people living in need.  Executive Director Cookie Shank signed him up to make direct-to-home deliveries to shut-ins or people without transportation.  Rich likes to know his hands-on efforts are making a difference to folks who are thankful for this essential ministry.

Pantry Service

Cookie Shank provides an overview of current services.  “We primarily serve people on Tuesdays from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in the back church parking lot, but we also make some home deliveries throughout the week to guests who are homebound.  Families are invited to come only one time per month.  The SCUMC Food Pantry is officially closed whenever Frederick County Public Schools are closed.

Grocery cart loaded with delicious fruit, produce, cereal, and canned goods. Courtesy Marty Barley.

Because of the earlier COVID requirements to follow CDC health guidelines, volunteers continue protocols for safe handling and proper sanitizing.  Utilizing a drive-thru system, boxes and bags of items are loaded into vehicles to expedite the flow of guests receiving supplies.  Items provided can include frozen meats, chilled dairy products, canned and boxed goods, fresh produce, pet food, and cleaning and hygiene items, with the quantity allowed, based on the size of the family.”

“The USDA provides many of the canned goods staples that we distribute.  We also receive donations from volunteers, church members and local businesses to supplement food and purchase meat and household supplies or cleaning products.  The sorority Xi Gamma Pi, Salem Church of the Brethren, Refuge UMC, Reliance UMC, Ridings Chapel UMC, Apple Valley Ringers, Frederick County Retired Teachers Association, Shenandoah Area Council Boy Scouts, Martin’s Supermarket, Starbucks in Stephens City and the Aylor Middle School Choir and Band have periodically contributed to support the pantry.  Blue Ridge Food Bank supplies us with free, fresh USDA produce when it is available, and our guests have received diverse, healthy produce, including cabbage, carrots, avocadoes, yellow squash, potatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes.  Occasionally, we receive cantaloupe, watermelon, and pineapples,” said Shank.

Increased Demand for Services

The pantry is open to all families in need. “Most of our guests participate in the Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed (ALICE) program.  These families are working modest-earning jobs and struggle to make ends meet. However, they make too much money to qualify for most social service programs, including the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP).  Since SNAP benefits were reduced in 2023, our pantry has realized an increase in new guests registering for the first time ever,” said Church Trustee liaison Diane Clawson.

Prestaging a massive number of groceries, boxes, and bags for drive-thru style, loading guest vehicles waiting in line (scheduled by appointment) in the parking lot.  Courtesy Marty Barley.

Clawson said the SCUMC food pantry served 15-20 families per week in 2021.  Now it averages 40 families per week with a high of 63 families during one week.  In 2022, the food pantry served 381 households comprising 1,109 people.  These numbers included 347 children, 606 adults (18-65) and 154 seniors (over 65).  If you factor in the number of repeat guests, the 2022 total of people served is 5,735.  Clawson said the 2023 totals reflect the pantry served 609 households comprising 1,908 individuals.  These numbers included 617 children, 1,068 adults (18-65), and 223 seniors (over 65).  However, if the pantry counts the number of people who made multiple visits, then the number of repeat guests served is 6,328.

Both Clawson and Shank calculated the end-of-year numbers for total people multiple times, which is about a 10% increase over the previous year.  During a three-month period (August – October 2023) Shank said she has seen the largest spike yet, averaging 148 people per week compared to 124 people per week during the same period in 2022.

Frederick County’s population increased 12 out of the 12 years between year 2010 and year 2022.  Its largest annual population increase was 2.7% between 2019 and 2020. Between 2010 and 2022, the county grew by an average of 1.6% per year.

Food prices have risen approximately fifteen percent since 2021 and overall inflation continues to squeeze families who were already struggling.  That is forcing more families to seek help feeding their families.  The pantry is experiencing a nearly 10% registration increase from last year.  The pantry receives an average of ten new families a week seeking assistance, and the increase reveals no sign of diminishing.  At the same time, the SCUMC congregation has slowly reduced in size, and the church is concerned they will not be able to sustain continued support for these increases in the long-term.

Request for Additional Donors and Community Support

The primary donors have been Stephens City Lions Club, Kohl’s Foundation, Lions Club of Virginia Foundation, Interstate Truck Service Inc., and Capon Valley Bank. “We are requesting more sponsors to support the purchase of supplies for the pantry that will be distributed directly to local families.  This will have a huge impact, touching approximately 700 households in the Stephens City community.  Our primary need for the pantry currently is meat.  We are seeking $2,500 to purchase packaged meat like hot dogs and bologna.  Our team of volunteer staff shops for the best deals at local grocery stores and uses our tax-exempt status to get the best rate.  $2,500 will buy approximately 800 packages of prepackaged meat,” said Shank.

Diane Clawson, Jerri Cook, and Cookie Shank are sorting groceries in the church basement food pantry.  Courtesy Marty Barley.

“The other great need is cleaning supplies and toiletry items.  We most often purchase these items from Dollar Tree because we can buy a generous individual-size bottle of laundry detergent or other cleaning products for $1.25 each. In 2023, we spent over $2,936 on these types of products.”

Because of the increase in families registered, the food pantry is only able to distribute one cleaning supply per family.  $2,500 will buy approximately 2,000 items and support 2,000 families.

Due to the extraordinarily high demand for food to support our neighbors, the pantry shelves require many donations to fill them to the maximum.   Food and monetary donations are desperately needed to serve needy families.  Foods that will help the most are peanut butter, pudding and jelly mix, cereal, cake and cookie mixes, canned tomato products, bagged beans or rice, canned black beans, canned chicken and tuna, canned fruit, oatmeal, canned chili, hamburger helper, canned pasta, and macaroni and cheese, and all types of soups.

Shank said that the SCUMC Food Pantry has to work hard and fast to maintain food stocks and is always happy to receive new donors.  “We regularly attend partner meetings with the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to spread awareness about our needs and services.  We share information about other food pantries and soup kitchens in the region, too.”

Pantry Equipment

SCUMC maintains two refrigerators and freezers. One set is over 20 years old. Shank and Clawson are seeking donations to buy a new refrigerator and freezer at a cost of $2,100 each.

The Mission Statement

SCUMC is only able to share God’s abundance through the donations they receive from the community.  Shank said she puts out the word through electronic media, church bulletins, elected officials, Facebook, neighborhood emails, and our community volunteers.  We seek volunteers offering to conduct food drives to gather the items, businesses to perform in-office drives, and residents to answer the plea for more donations.

SCUMC volunteers strongly believe that assisting those less fortunate with their most basic needs fosters hope and goodwill among our diverse and fast-growing community.  Unconditional love that flows freely is the simplest and purest of all acts.  Hygiene and cleaning supplies, four bags of nonperishables, and one bag of fresh produce are the simplest of acts.

To receive more information about this emergency support ministry or to donate to the SCUMC Food Pantry, please contact Executive Director Cookie Shank at foodpantry.scumc@outlook.com