Park Place Baptist Food Pantry Serving a Growing Need

Park Place Baptist Church offers a food pantry to community members in need. A dramatic increase in demand in recent years has made it difficult for the church to maintain the necessary supplies.

The food pantry is serving about 250 families per month, according to Associate Pastor Denny Carr. A record 166 people utilized the pantry last time it was open, he said. The pantry opens twice monthly, and is currently in great need of non-perishable donations. 

“People are so appreciative and have become an extended family. We offer more than food; we offer fellowship and we are building relationships. People are opening up and sharing their deep needs, which is a wonderful thing. We are offering moral and spiritual care,” Carr said.

The Montgomer church provides doughnuts and coffee before the pantry opens and each visitor to the pantry completes an informational sheet that asks about additional needs or concerns. The church offers to lift these concerns up in prayer during their Sunday morning Power of Prayer, Carr explained.

“More than 50 percent will write down a prayer concern,” he said.

Two years ago, when a church member suggested the need of a pantry to serve the community, the church embraced the idea and made the vision a reality.

“Reaching out to the community fits in perfectly with our mission…Our people are excited about the pantry and it is a big ministry within our church,” he said. “We have a wonderful group of volunteers who have been just great. They see the need and respond to the call.”

Last year, Park Place started a Community Garden, offering free plots to anyone in the community. There are 12 plots and gardeners donate 10 percent of their crop back to the pantry, said Stephanie Macey, Park Place secretary.

The church is open to accept donations for the pantry daily from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Carr said they try to offer nutritious meals through the food pantry and request nonperishable items such as: cereals, dry milk, peanut butter, jelly, tuna, pasta, pasta sauce, soup, beans and rice.

“We will take help in any shape or form. The food pantry is an outreach to the community and a ministry the whole community can participate in,” Carr said.

Carr believes people learn about the food pantry through word of mouth and the sign in front of the church.

Currently, visitors to the pantry are encouraged to take what they need but to be responsible, Carr said. He said they may soon instill some guidelines based on family size to ensure everyone is served.

The pantry is open the second and fourth Saturdays of each month from 9-11 a.m. at 1144 S. Lincoln Ave. For more information, contact Park Place Baptist Church at (630) 897-6810.