Christ Church
United Methodist

Elisha's Pantry is an interfaith outreach program
serving our Bennett Valley and Rincon Valley neighbors 
in Santa Rosa, California
through gifts of food and kindness.

It is a joint outreach program of:
Christ Church United Methodist
Congregation Shomrei Torah
Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Elisha's Pantry is located at
1717 Yulupa Avenue, south of Hoen Avenue
on the site of Christ Church United Methodist.

Hours of Operation: Thursdays, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

The Latest Update

Times are hard for everyone right now, but especially for those with low or no income. Pantry clientele has risen over the past year (July ‘07 to July ’08) by 10%. We distributed over 38,165 pounds of food from Redwood Empire Food Bank, plus many more pounds from other sources. We served 7,257 individuals. But the rise since the beginning of July has been probably an additional 20%.

The clients so appreciate the wonderful fresh organic produce provided by Harvest for the Hungry Garden and by donations received Occidental Fruit & Vegetable and Whole Foods. Thank you to our members who have donated their own produce and plastic bags and $money$. Thank you also to so many of you who have offered your services in volunteering in so many ways. 

One little boy came by the pantry on a Thursday with $19.00 in cash in a Tupperware container. He wanted to donate the money to feed the poor. He had raised the money selling bottled water on the street corner. We all could take a lesson from him in thinking of those who have less. Christ Church still needs to make the pledged donation to Elisha’s Pantry this year of $2,000; but more could sure be used. 

Every year we have accepted the donations of canned food from Shomrei Torah given as part of their Yom Kipper Holy Celebration. Marguerite Li is organizing this again this year on October 8th and 9th. Please contact Marguerite to volunteer for sorting and delivering the canned goods.

Blessings to all! 

Linda Carroll, Pantry Coordinator

The Pantry continues to serve a number of families each week. The average number of households for 2006 was 42. The average number of people served each week from July - Dec 2006 was 112.

Many in our own congregation have given generously of time and money. Maurine Bennett, for example, contributed $500 after her father’s death and another $500 after her mother’s death, as a way of honoring them. Regular contributions come in almost every week. Thank you,  CCUM ! 

A number of groups (besides , Shomrei Torah, and Bethlehem Lutheran) have given donations to the Pantry during the year. We get much of our food at discounted prices through Redwood Empire Food Bank along with a $200 credit each month. 

Whole Foods Bakery donates baked goods each week, and is the main source of the bread we put in each bag. The line forms early on Thursdays because our “regulars” know they get first pick of the special cakes, pies, breads, etc. The Harvest for the Hungry Garden supplies us with wonderful fresh organic produce each week —  Elaine Walter often harvests the produce during her Wednesday volunteer shift in the Garden. or check on the leftover fresh food and produce on Fridays and takes them to other groups such as Food Not Bombs, FISH, and the Family Support Center, for example. 

Other contributors this past year, in addition to monetary gifts: 

Christ Methodist Nursery School
Community of Christ Church 
Curves, Oakmont 
Eggs (local supply) &  Larry Trent  
Faith Lutheran Church
Fran Posner 
G & G Meat Department
Schultz Moving & Storage
Slater Junior High School
STARS (Shomrei Torah Religious School)
Whole Food Bakers                                                                                      
... and many anonymous donors

Many from our congregation help with the shopping on Wednesday or volunteering in the Pantry on Thursday. These include Linda Bishop , Robin & Steve Brown, Gary Bunas, Linda Carroll , John Davenport , Garry & Sarah Gooding, Chlele Gummer , Barbara O’Hara, Karin Jones, Marguerite Li , Mac McKenzie, Ray Magnuson , Jill Metz, Claudia Norby , Judy Peletz, Gayle Pickrell, Sally Seitz, Bob Smith , Larry Trent , and Jennifer Weil. We are blessed. Thank you!

A special thank you to Ted Wilmsen for installing rain gutters on the South side of the Pantry.

If you would like to volunteer as an occasional Wednesday shopper, contact Larry Trent . If you would like to work on Thursday afternoons in the Pantry, contact Linda Carroll .

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How it all started . . .

The request originally came from the Redwood Empire Food Bank over a year ago, looking for distribution sites in the Rincon and Bennett Valley areas. Larry responded that we might be interested, and passed it on to Debbie Vollmer , who was then the chair of the Outreach Ministry. Debbie picked it up and ran with it. We knew we didn’t have space for a food pantry in our existing buildings. We thought we could put a pre-fab shed on our property, but then when we found out we had to have a cement slab, and then a permit, we went out on faith to build a 12x22 building.

John Davenport led the work teams, spending many hours of donated labor, but many volunteers from Shomrei Torah and CCUM also gave of their time, muscles, and sweat! A neighbor saw our need for a trench to lay electrical line, and he volunteered to get a bobcat from his work, and he dug the trench. Bruce Stephens did the wiring. Los Amigos (with Jen LeFever’s lead) painted, and then repainted the building. Steve Crosley was able to get windows donated and a discount on lumber. The list of other businesses that gave us materials or discounts is incredible.

Harvest for the Hungry Garden now harvests fresh produce every week for the Pantry. Marguerite Li has arranged for bread to be delivered from Whole Foods. A weekly shopping team goes to the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) to purchase food, and a volunteer team from the three congregations begins bagging and distributing food by 4:00 p.m. on Thursdays. It has been an exciting project as it has evolved, step by step. We’re still learning and evolving as we go. 

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Three Congregations

If you would like to be part of the volunteer effort to keep the Pantry running smoothly – shopping, serving, fund-raising, picking up food items, spreading the word – please let Larry Trent know. 

Bethlehem Lutheran has joined Congregation Shomrei Torah and Christ Church United Methodist in this venture. Bethlehem Lutheran and Congregation Shomrei Torah have each committed over $3000 per year and volunteers to combine with Christ Church’s efforts.

Many people have helped us with this project. John Davenport has spent many hours constructing the Food Pantry building, along with many volunteers (Steve Brown, Ted Wilmsen, Gary Bunas, Steve Crosley, Dave Rebstock, Roland James, Floyd Bishop, Pete Benway, Stacy Li, Garry Gooding, Jerry Gunderson, Elaine Walter, as well as volunteers from Shomrei Torah.) Steve Crosley was able to get windows donated and a discount on the lumber. Marshall Vincent and others helped with the pouring of cement. Bruce Stephens installed the electrical lines. A

As you can see, a Food Pantry is not just a single-person project. It takes a whole community! Thank you, community!  

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Volunteers Needed!

Elisha’s Pantry continues to be a wonderful outreach program of our church, Congregation Shomrei Torah, and Bethlehem Lutheran. Volunteers from each congregation go on a shopping trip to Redwood Empire Food Bank each week (under Larry’s guidance), and volunteer to bag and hand out of food on Thursdays. We have been ranging from 15-37 households each week. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Larry Trent.

During the High Holy Days of Yom Kippur, Shomrei Torah will be collecting food for the Pantry. Bags and bags of food! We need helpers October 1 & 2 to help sort, box, and store all the food. If you can volunteer, please sign up or call the office.

No need to bring us any more bags. We have plenty of paper and plastic bags at this time. Please save boxes (with lids and are a manageable size for canned food items) and bring them to church. Or, if you have plastic bins you would like to donate that have a tight seal, we can use those to store food that comes in plastic bags or cardboard boxes, like rice, dry beans, cereal, etc.

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Pantry Dedication

About 100 people gathered on a sunny day on Sunday, September 11 for the Elisha’s Pantry Dedication. What a celebration it was, with youth choirs from Bethlehem Lutheran accompanied by Pastor Chris Sanderson on the guitar, prayers of Rabbi Gittleman, a song of blessing by soloist Leira Satlof, history of Elisha’s Pantry from vision to reality by Larry Trent, along with an explanation of how to get involved, Scripture telling of Elisha in the Hebrew Text and of the Loaves and Fishes in the New Testament by Jennifer Weil and Haley Noble. Lots of cookies and cold drinks were enjoyed following the service.

How the Name Elisha’s Food Pantry Was Selected

The story of Elisha feeding one hundred people with twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain and still having food left over is paralleled in the New Testament in the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with loaves and fish. (See 2 Kings 4:42-44)  

Elisha’s Pantry in the News!

Read the article about the food pantry in the Press Democrats on September 7, 2005 -- "Relieving Hunger Pains."

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