Thirteen years ago, an interdenominational collaboration among five churches stepped in to address food insecurity in the East Providence, Rhode Island, area. Stop & Shop has supported Bread of Life Food Pantry through the Bloomin’ 4 Good and Community Bag Programs.
Tell us about Bread of Life Food Pantry.
Bread of Life Food Pantry is located in East Providence, Rhode Island. At one time, there was a food pantry at a community center in East Providence, but the community center closed down. The need for a food pantry, though, still existed in the area. As a result, in 2009, five churches banded together and decided to sustain this outreach.
The pantry is a collaborative ecumenical effort of five East Providence churches of different denominations: Catholic, Episcopal, Evangelical Covenant, Nazarene and United Church of Christ. We have discovered that five churches working with each other means more ideas, more people, more money and more energy coming together to create a better outcome.
The pantry survives mainly on private donations as people easily understand our mission and how it is helping in the community. We are continually astounded by the generosity of our donors.
We are continually astounded by the generosity of our donors.
What services do you supply to the community?
We provide nonperishables in addition to fresh produce and fresh bread. There is no income or geographic eligibility. The pantry is open to anyone that wants to come and receive food. We’re open twice a month from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.
One of the partner churches, the Newman Congregational Church, cleared out space to host the food pantry and has been very accommodating for us to operate.
What sets you apart from other nonprofits in your community?
There are a lot of churches that operate food pantries. What we are offering is not unique, but the way the food pantry came together is. It’s unusual that there is an interdenominational collaboration.
Tell us a story that illustrates the good work of your organization.
Often people come in and say they never thought they would have to visit a food pantry. This is a difficult time, and we assure them they are totally welcome here. On any given day, any one of us could be in need of this service. We’re known as a place people can come to for food with no questions asked. People need that and they need compassion. It’s not just handing out the food, but we try to be friendly, open, welcoming and supportive.
What is your most outstanding achievement or contribution to the community?
We’ve been at the same location for 13 years now and remained in operation throughout the Covid pandemic. For two years, we shifted to an outdoor distribution model and set up tents in the parking lot of the church where the pantry is housed. We served guests in temperatures ranging from 12 to 95 degrees, rain or shine!
What do you want people to know about Bread of Life Food Pantry?
We want people in need to be assured that someone cares about their situation and that they never need to feel alone. We strive to remain a positive force in our community.
Also, the pantry requires the involvement of a large number of volunteers as we may serve as many as 100 households in a two-hour period. Yet, we are never low on volunteers as we get so much volunteer support from partner churches and from the community at large. We are always so grateful for the kindness of those who offer their time and compassion.
We want people in need to be assured that someone cares about their situation and that they never need to feel alone. We strive to remain a positive force in our community.
How will you use the funds raised from Stop & Shop’s Community Bag and Bloomin’ 4 Good Programs?
We receive quite a bit of our food at no cost from the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. They’re a wonderful organization, but sometimes they don’t have everything that we like to offer.
The funds from Stop & Shop are used to purchase the additional nutritious items we want to also provide our families, such as hearty cereals and soups for this time of year.
Published December 7, 2022.