St. Bonaventure Food Pantry

Drive-through service at the St. Bonaventure Food Pantry

“We help where we can” is a fitting motto for the food pantry at St. Bonaventure: Its volunteers repeat the phrase often. Father Lawrence D’Anjou, the pastor of St. Bonaventure, is proud to support this ministry. “We preach the Gospel, but it’s meaningless unless we’re willing to act on it,” he explained. “This is a tangible demonstration of Jesus’ love for the needy. I’m grateful to all who participate. It’s the way that we live what we preach as a Catholic community and show the face of Christ.” Although the food pantry has been operating for nearly 40 years, like so many things, the pandemic forced an evolution in its services shortly after current coordinators Jeanne Emry and Stephanie Pence took the reins.

“It just keeps evolving,” Emry said of the drive-through food pickup system that operates on Tuesday mornings from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

Feeding families

In an average week, 120 families are fed. Many are seniors on fixed incomes, young families or recent immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. “These are families that need to supplement their food supply. We have seen a rise in need as the cost of living has increased,” Pence said.

The work begins on Monday when volunteers pick up donations from local Safeway and Food Maxx locations. With an increase in donation volume from grocery stores due to SB 1383’s provisions on food waste, it takes two vehicles to collect the donations. Food is also purchased from the Food Bank of Contra Costa County, which offers food at reduced costs to organizations  serving residents of Contra Costa County.

Also on Monday afternoons, Mike Emry can be found setting up a feat of traffic engineering. His system of orange cones, traffic barriers and signs create lanes in the parking lot to direct cars into orderly lines. On Tuesday morning, he and some members of the Knights of Columbus direct traffic.  The first cars arrive as early as 5:30 a.m. and pull into line. 

Packing and praying

Inside, the volunteers are hard at work. Some of them assemble bags with a selection of pasta, macaroni and cheese, and cans of tuna, tomato products, soup, beans, corn and fruit. Others fill cardboard boxes with whatever produce is available that day, such as grapes, oranges, zucchini, artichokes and potatoes. Eggs and snacks are also added to the boxes.

Some volunteers even make up boxes that they deliver after their shifts to neighbors and fellow parishioners who are homebound, don’t drive or just need a little extra help.

Ten minutes before opening, the coordinators make announcements followed by prayer. “What do we need to pray for today? What else are you carrying on your shoulders?” Pence asks.

“Thank you, God, for the team in here and in the parking lot. We couldn’t do it without them. Thank you to all who donate so we can do what we do,” Jeanne Emry said.

When service opens, clients drive up with their trunks – or side doors in the case of minivans – open. Their first stop is the Odds and Ends cart, where a number is placed on their windshield indicating the size of their household. Here they also meet Donna Zukowski and Sandy Medairos. On any given day, the cart can hold baby food, diapers, hygiene products, pet treats and over-the-counter medicines.

“You won’t believe some of the things we’ve gotten,” Zukowski said. She also noted that if they know someone is expecting a baby, they try to put together a newborn kit.

The boxes and bags assembled earlier are loaded into the car before the driver pulls up to the meat, dairy and prepared sandwich station. Bread and baked goods round out the service.

For those who walk or take the bus, there is a walk-up section. A shepherd brings those clients from station to station and helps them collect and bag their food 
for transport.

As much as possible, dietary restrictions are accommodated; volunteers remember the preferences of their regulars and have those items waiting when they pull up. Although the parking lot crew closes the line at 10 a.m., every car in line gets served.

When people leave, their vehicles are full of good food. Leftover food that will keep for another week is stored in one of five deep freezers or four refrigerators or placed on the warehouse-style shelves that the Food Pantry maintains. Other extra foods are passed on to St. Vincent de Paul “Friday Foods,” another ministry at St. Bonaventure. “We help where we can,” Jeanne Emry said. 

Christine Schreck is a staff writer for The Catholic Voice.

"This is a tangible demonstration of Jesus’ love for the needy.”

How to help

Volunteer:
If you are local to St. Bonaventure, please consider volunteering. The team would consider it a blessing. Extra help is always great!

Donate funds:
The weekly order for items like meat, milk, eggs and canned goods from the Contra Costa 
Food Bank costs about $1,000. Checks should be made payable to St. Bonaventure, with Food Pantry in the memo line. 

Please mail checks to:
St Bonaventure Church

Attn: Food Pantry
5562 Clayton Road
Concord, CA 94521

stbonaventure.net/food-pantry-st-bonaventure

Above: Stephanie Pence greets a client with a smile, embodying the mantra of the ministry – to help where they can with warm hospitality, food and essentials.

Above: Donna Zukowski (left) and Sandy Medairos (right) prep the Odds and Ends cart.