By Rev. Meredith Jackson, Program Director
Celebrate! At the beginning of April we were able to open our doors to guests and invite them inside, and we debuted our new food pantry and renovated spaces.
Food Pantry: Guests are invited to shop for their own groceries. They check in, come into the space with a volunteer, and choose according to the options presented. Canned food, dry food, fresh bakery, bread, produce, frozen meat, refrigerated deli, personal hygiene and cleaning supplies are all available.
Clothing Room: While the clothing room wasn’t a part of the renovation project, it’s an important and busy part of the ministry. Guests are invited to come in and shop for clothing, and a free bag is available each month.
Storage and Sorting Room: These renovated rooms give us space to receive donations, sort them appropriately, and ensure that they’re ready to be distributed to guests. We also have space for our many refrigerators and freezers that help keep our food safe.
Staff Offices: We now have space for a combined staff office, meeting space, and administrative organization.
Non-Food Room: This renovated space holds all of our personal hygiene, cleaning items, and minimal storage for back to school and our holiday store. These items are popular with our guests and non-food is a growing part of our ministry. Many of the non-food items are distributed through the food pantry, where guests can choose their items.
Kitchen: The church kitchen space is still in process, and we look forward to one day being able to host cooking classes, demonstrations, and community meals using this space.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we met our renovation fundraising goal, and are still accepting donations for this ongoing work. Special thanks to ISC for donating materials and labor for a new doorway to the storage room, Mike D and friends from Crew Construction for mudding, taping, and painting the new doorway, Webster Groves Presbyterian Church for funding the new shelving for the food pantry, Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church for funding a new freezer and donating a used refrigerator, Darrell Hughes for overseeing many renovation details, and the many volunteers who helped see us over the renovation finish line.
Our work will continue as we live into our new space and find more robust ways to serve our guests. We are excited by how far we have come, and we’re looking forward to all that is ahead!
To give to this important ongoing work, please visit i58ministries.org/donate, and consider becoming a sustaining giver with a monthly gift.
Process photos:
