Started with one shelf
Neighborhood Pantry grew from a hallway cupboard into a market that feeds 640 households.
Where we came from
In 2015, a school secretary named Gloria Mendez started keeping a cupboard of cereal and peanut butter outside her office. Kids kept asking for more.
Within a year the cupboard became a church closet, then a church basement, then a storefront on Lagrange Street. Volunteers brought shelves, a grocer brought a van and neighbors brought neighbors.
We are still run mostly by people who have stood on both sides of the counter. Some of our best volunteers first came to us for groceries.
The house rules
Take what you need
No income checks, no ID, no limits on being hungry.
Choice is dignity
You pick your food, just like at any store.
Waste nothing
We rescue perfectly good food and send it home with people.
Everybody has something to give
Shoppers help sort, stock and host.
How we got here
A few moments that shaped who we are today.
The cereal cupboard
Gloria Mendez stocks one shelf at Garfield Elementary.
Storefront on Lagrange
We open our doors to the whole neighborhood.
Delivery launches
Volunteers begin bringing groceries to homebound seniors.
640 households
We pass 18,000 pounds of food a month.
Who runs the place
FounderGloria Mendez
Still unpacks boxes on Saturday mornings.
Pantry ManagerRaymond Cole
Keeps the shelves full and the cooler humming.
Volunteer LeadAisha Rahman
Trains 55 volunteers and knows every shopper by name.
Food Rescue DriverBen Kowalski
Picks up 4,000 pounds a week from local grocers.
What we hold to
- Hunger is a problem we solve together.
- Nobody should have to prove they are poor.
- Fresh food is a right, not a luxury.
- Every volunteer hour counts.
- Neighbors know best what neighbors need.
Stock the shelves for a neighbor
Here is what to expect when you walk through the door for the first time.