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SACRED HEART FOOD PANTRY
News From The Sacred
Heart Food Pantry
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The Sacred Heart Food Pantry at St. Mary exists to provide nutritious food, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items, and over the counter medications to people in need. We serve the citizens of Michigan City who have the greatest need without regard to race, creed, or ethnicity. We do this through the generosity of donors and the many people who volunteer their time. While there are other food pantries in Michigan City, the Sacred Heart Food Pantry at St. Mary is the only one with evening hours thereby serving people who work during the day. We are the only pantry offering over the counter medications to our clients. In the year 2022, the pantry has served 846 different families affecting 2,940 individuals.

 

We currently have 38 dedicated volunteers. From shopping for dairy items, picking up donations from the collection bins and local retailers, receiving and weighing donations, sorting fresh produce, stocking shelves, and assisting clients during pantry hours, our volunteers are vital to the success of the pantry. We appreciate and thank each one of our amazing volunteers for all they do for those in need.

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Since May 2022, the pantry has experienced growth in the number of clients we serve. During the month of May we served 149 families affecting 497 individuals. As gas and grocery prices rose, so did the need. We saw an increase in clients each month with our highest numbers in November 2022 when we served 282 families affecting 989 individuals, an increase of 89% in families and 99% in individuals.

 

We rely on donations to provide food for our clients. Currently we spend an average of $2,292 per month. Since July 1, 2022, we have been blessed with generous monetary gifts totaling $17,512 from private donors and local businesses. We’ve also received over $400 in gift cards to grocery stores. We thank all our donors for their continued support. No gift is too small. These generous gifts enable us to purchase eggs, milk, orange juice, cheese, margarine, paper products, personal hygiene items and whatever else we need to fill our shelves. 

 

We also have been fortunate to have been awarded two grants - the Elk’s Foundation Beacon Grant totaling $6,000 and the Unity Foundation of La Porte County grant totaling $4,071.43.  We are grateful to both organizations for their support.

 

The response to our monthly “Wish List” posted at St. Mary’s, Queen of All Saints, St. Stanislaus, Notre Dame parishes, and the VFW Post #2536 is greatly appreciated.  These non-perishable food items replenish our shelves from week to week. In November, we collected turkey dinner fixings to provide 105 Thanksgiving turkey baskets for our clients and had enough to last through the Christmas season! We thank each and every one who contributes to the donation bins.

 

We are most grateful for the support of our parishioners, the business community and the community at large.  May God continue to bless you in the New Year and may He continue to bless our efforts to meet the needs of those less fortunate in our community

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