An offshoot of our Little Free Pantry and our LEAD Team’s emphasis on neighborhood partnerships, this program began operations during the state of emergency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the most recent report of this drive-through and walk-up feeding program supported by a number of neighborhood partners, serving out of our parking lot Tuesday and Saturday from 10 am until 12 pm.

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Report Weeks 59 and 60 Immanuel Food Distribution Ministry: May 1 – May 11, 2021 

Immanuel’s food distribution ministry served 77 guests the week of April 17 and 81 guests this past week. These numbers represent 22 fewer people compared to the previous reporting period. We occasionally have a new person coming for food and we have missed some we’ve gotten to know over the months whom we haven’t seen lately. We are accepting the lower numbers as a good sign that hopefully people are getting back to work or otherwise find themselves in a better situation and have less need for emergency food supplies. 

Immanuel’s food distribution ministry served 74 guests the week of May 1 and 78 guests this past week. These numbers have been consistent the past four weeks, indicating that our numbers are trending down. Still, we’ve seen new people with young children stopping by recently. Compared to last year when we fed 157 people the first week of May 2020, it’s very clear that we are blessedly on the road to recovery from this pandemic.  

We returned to the side of the education building to distribute food on May 1. This is the same location where we gave out food last spring, summer, and fall, providing shade and a breeze for both our volunteers and the food we distribute. We are working to revamp our traffic pattern since cars have been blocking York St. at 10am when we open.  On May 8, rain forced us to use the back of the church where we had protection with a small awning. Michele from MCQE Mobile Pet Pantry distributed pet food from her van that day. 

We extend a sincere thank you to our community partners and individual donors during this distribution period, knowing we couldn’t sustain this ministry without you.  

Community Donations May 1-11 

Manchester Baptist Church – 120 snack bags, each containing approximately 25 items 

St. John’s Methodist Church – two deliveries of pantry items by David Rau 

Grace Bible Church, New Freedom PA – two deliveries of pantry items by Charlie Colgan and Eric Hauser 

Greenmount Methodist Church – personal care items delivered by Cindy Mullikin 

The Blessings Ministry – Panera Bread items from Glenn Minnick 

Miller’s Market – produce Tuesdays and Saturdays delivered by Rhonda Kiler 

Weis Market – frozen meat picked up by Doug Myers; groceries, produce, and packaged bread picked up and delivered by Rhonda Kiler; three donations of large quantities of baked goods (cakes, pies, cookies, donuts, muffins, cupcakes) and bakery bread and rolls picked up and delivered by Cindy Mullikin, Brenda and Rachel 

Individual and Family Donations May 1-11 

Kate Warner – two cases of eggs 

Pearl Harnish – Gift card from Weis $300 

Michele Szper (MCQE) – large bags of organic pastry flour, unmilled rye, dried beans for soup 

Doug Myers – 30 hamburger and 30 hot dog rolls 

Otis and Lorraine Hopper – 5 bags of pantry items 

Danielle – “birthday boxes” 

Anonymous – multiple bags of pantry items 

Anonymous – gift of $10.00 from food distribution guest  

Anonymous donors – items left in outdoor Little Free Pantry 

Monetary contributions made directly to Immanuel Church  

We welcome and thank Eric Hauser, a member of Grace Bible Church in New Freedom, who served as a first time volunteer on May 8. As always, we are grateful for our returning volunteers who worked during this distribution period: Carol Miller, Rhonda Kiler, Deb Hebrank, Cindy Mullikin, Gwen Hanson, Jeanne Swain, Doug Myers, Bill Skinner, Karen Haines, Heidi Hess, Debbie Miller, Deb Bowdoin, Patt Hentz, Jeanne Kloss, Rachel Murphy, Steve Miller, Josh Insley, Holly Sater, and Connor and Caitlin Insley. Thank you, Pastor Charlie for leading us in prayer on May 4 and distributing food. 

Food Distributed	Week 59: May 1-4	Week 60: May 8-11
Grocery bags	74	78
Snack bags	72	37
Milk	71 containers	75 containers
Bread/rolls	154 units	160 units
Baked goods	19 units	75 units
Eggs	68 dozen	74 dozen
Mixed produce, potatoes	75 bags	48 bags
Chicken	35 packs	45 packs
Ground beef	——	37 packs
Hot dogs	10 packs	——-
Hamburgers	21 packs	——-
Pork		37 packs
Pet food	2 bags	2 bags
Paper products and toiletries	18 packs	14 packs

A woman and her three children ages two, three, and five have been visiting us lately. The oldest child had a liver transplant as a baby. The children are excited to watch us load the car. As Carol was putting food in their car, she asked the five year old “And what do you want?” He responded, “A firetruck!”. His mother noted that actually they could use toothbrushes. Carol purchased 3 battery operated toothbrushes for the children, along with an extra pack of batteries. Debbie Miller brought out a box of their favorite cereal during another visit. All three children raised their arms and shouted “hurray!”  

A grandmother shared how she lost her family daycare income when the families of children she cared for could no longer afford day care and kept their children home. She is now watching her grandchildren since their parents returned to work but misses the income she had in the past. 

A donor brought birthday boxes by recently. She said that we fed her family early in the pandemic when her husband’s pay was cut. The wrapped shoeboxes contained items for a birthday party – cake mix, frosting, decorations, and party trinkets. We were able to give them to families whose children had upcoming birthdays. Need, paying forward, joy spread – a frequent scenario in our ministry. 

We pray for God’s blessings upon those we serve and sincerely thank the members of Immanuel as well as our generous community partners for their prayers, encouragement, volunteer hours, and donations. Thanks be to God for working in our lives to serve those in need. 

Christine Crouch 5/11/21