Help Us Help Others
There are many ways in which individuals and families can help the Food Center at MPC. Below are listed a few ways in which you might help us to help others. We ask you to give serious consideration to them.
Donations
The Food Center is completely dependent upon donations of both food and money from individuals and organizations of the community. Because the Food Center is entirely staffed by volunteers and because we are housed in the Morrisville Presbyterian Church, our operational expenses are quite low. Dollars donated to the Food Center are used for the purchase of food. Donations can be made payable to the Food Center and mailed to Morrisville Presbyterian Church, 771 N. Pennsylvania Ave, PO Box 240, Morrisville, PA 19067.
We accept non-perishable food items in good condition. We have refrigeration and can also accept some perishable items. Please call the church at 215-295-4191 to arrange a drop-off time, use the contact form on the Contact page, send an email to the Food Center, or you can come during the times we are in operation and see what we do.
Volunteer for the Food Center
If you find yourself with some free time this year, please think about volunteering at the Food Center. Below are some opportunities you might consider. We surely could use your help! Take a look at some of the ways in which you can help us. If there are one or two you might like to do, you can either send an email or you can let us know how you might like to help by filling out and submitting the short form on the Contact page.
Monday Evenings
Starting at 7:00 pm and lasting to about 8:00pm you can join a very fun group packing 170+ grocery bags every week. Just show up!
Tuesdays
This is not glamorous work – but we need your help unloading the produce delivered by Philabundance; sorting & parsing & packaging, if necessary, for individual households. Start time is typically 11:30 am.
Wednesdays Starting at 8:30 am – 2:00 pm
Client day! We need help moving food, distributing food to clients, interviewing clients, greeting clients, etc… You don’t have to be there for the whole day.
Thursdays from 9:30 am – 12 noon
Thursdays are our food purchasing day. We need help picking g up cases of food (usually leave church at 9:30) at both Mercer Street Friends Food Bank and Aldi’s warehouse; also need help unloading food when we get back to church, typically at 11:15 or so.
A Few More Volunteer Opportunities
There are a number of additional sub-routines that go on each week. We have food
pick-ups at Einstein Bagels (Monday & Tuesday afternoon); Giant & ACME
(Wednesday morning); Pizza Hut (Tuesday); Shady Brook Farm (Monday); Marrazzo’s
Supermarket in Robbinsville, NJ (Wednesday morning). If you would like to help
with these – or be on a general sub-list – please let us know. (The Marrazzo's Supermarket
pick-up on Wednesday morning requires a small truck or empty van;
the other food pick-ups can be done with a family vehicle.)
We are looking for someone who is interested in learning about or already knowledgeable about resources for our clients (e.g., other food programs, programs to help with home heating costs, housing resources, programs for independent living, etc.) We need a volunteer to keep up on and compile this information for distribution to our clients.
Donate a Monthly Pledge Bag
This is an option for people who would like to participate in the food pantry by donating a bag of groceries every month for a year. We will provide you a list of the food items needed in a pledge bag. The bag that you pack and provide will be given to a family coming for food assistance. In return we will send you a note, telling you a bit about the family to whom your bag was given that month.
This is the list of food we ask for in a pledge bag. Please keep in mind that glass containers or very large containers are a bit more difficult for our clients to handle.
| 1 lb. of pasta | 2 canned protein (chili, stew, tuna, etc.) |
| 1 can or jar spaghetti sauce | 2 cans of fruit |
| 1 jar of peanut butter | 1 box of cereal |
| 1 small jelly or honey | 1 lb. of rice |
| 3 cans of vegetables | 2 cans of evaporated milk (or qt. of box milk, or dry milk) |
| 2 cans of soup | 1 treat (optional – e.g., cookies, Jell-O) |
| 2 boxes of macaroni & cheese |