Pantry 101: Five Things to Know About the South Bay Food Pantry

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• The South Bay Food Pantry is the largest and fastest growing mission of First UU Church. Fifty-eight church members from both campuses, and 34 volunteers from the wider community, 92 people whose ages range from ten to mid-eighties keep the Pantry running and support First UU’s mission. 

• The Pantry’s volunteers create community, nurture spiritual growth, and act on their values to help heal the world. Every day Pantry volunteers live out the church’s mission. Your fellow church members describe their experience volunteering as “at the heart of my involvement with the church,” “welcoming,” “putting my faith into action,” “deeply rewarding,” “practicing abundance and grace,” and “a lot of fun.” Their work gives back to them in connections with each other and our clients, and a deep satisfaction they are making an immediate difference in people’s lives. 

 

• We serve the neediest people in San Diego County The Pantry is in Chula Vista, next door to our South Bay Campus, in a census tract that’s one of the poorest—measured in household income—in San Diego County. Food insecurity and hunger are daily realities for our clients. Our Saturday food distribution serves more than 350 households—405 on January 29!—and includes a range of ethnicities, many infants and children, people living in their cars or on the street, and households where even two adults working full time can’t earn enough to insure their family’s food security. Every Saturday we help more than 1200 of our neighbors have enough to eat.

 

• The Pantry is not funded by the Church. It relies entirely on donations.
  As an affiliated organization of First UU Church, the Pantry enjoys a close relationship with the church, but it does not receive any funds from the church’s budget. It’s supported entirely by donations, mostly from church members. We’re grateful for the very generous response from the generosity offering, but to ensure the Pantry’s future, we need more monthly donations. Currently, only 20 households in the church make a monthly donation to the Pantry.
  
  The Pantry opened its doors in December of 2019. A year later the Pantry was serving more than 150 families every week, and those donations covered the cost of food. Now the Pantry serves more than 400 families each Saturday. Our greatest expenses are rent, utilities and the food we distribute; together these run $3100 to $3400 a month. This is about 40% more than we receive in monthly donations. We currently make up the shortfall from the Pantry’s reserve funds, but this isn’t sustainable for the long term.
  
  ​To support this vital work, we need to grow our donor base. We invite you to join us in supporting the pantry. Your monthly contribution in any amount puts your values directly into action. You can donate on the Church’s website, or by check made out to First UU Church of San Diego, specifying Food Pantry in the memo line.

 

• The pantry is an all-volunteer organization. We need more volunteers at every level of commitment and with every kind of skill. You can decide how much time you can give and what you want to do. If you’re looking for a once a week or once a month task, come join other church members for a couple of hours during the week as we bag non-perishables, or help us pick up donated food from grocery stores and bakeries. Like data entry, analysis and statistics? We’ve got a job for you, as little or as much as you want. Want the full-on pantry experience? Join us on Saturday morning, providing fresh vegetables and fruit, meat and poultry, milk, bread, and non-perishables like beans and rice to more than 300 households, and feel the sense of community. In everything we do, we’re committed to welcoming, to generosity and abundance, and to supporting our clients and our volunteers. We’d love to share it all with you. Email FoodPantry@FirstUUSanDiego.org and we’ll get back with you about how you can work with your friends and fellow church members.

 
Barbara Davenport