Church determined to keep food pantry going

Inside a landmark church on the West Side, volunteers pass out hundreds of bags of food twice a month to the disabled, working parents and children ? all desperate to make ends meet.

It has been an outreach of El Divino Salvador United Methodist Church for 17 years, growing from five families receiving food monthly to more than 150 people.

A VIA bus stop fronting the church at Zarzamora Street and Woodlawn Avenue has made the food ministry a popular and accessible site for people across the city. They gather as early as three hours before the 9 a.m. opening, some using walkers or in wheelchairs, and others pushing strollers with infants.

?No money can replace the feeling you get or the expressions you see on those people's faces,? said pantry director Lali Saucedo. ?When you see that smile on that child's face after you give them a bag of cookies or a little treat, you can't describe it.?

The church food pantry is one of the area nonprofits showcased during the holiday season as part of the Express-News' 17th annual Grace of Giving series.

The program relies on a church building constructed in 1927 and in need of repairs.

There are cracks in the walls, asbestos in the floor tiling and mildew forming on the second-floor ceiling tiles where water is leaking through.

The food stored on the second floor was moved into the main distribution room and placed on shelving. That room now is crowded, making operational space much smaller for the 10 to 12 volunteers who support the pantry.

The church is studying how to repair the leak on a $192,000 annual budget funded primarily by aging congregants.

A decade ago, the church had about 250 regular attendees. Most Sundays now, about 100 are in the pews.

But church leaders said they're determined to keep the pantry open on the first and third Tuesday of each month, even though it has added 660 clients in the past year for a total of more than 2,600.

It receives cash donations from the church, then buys food from the San Antonio Food Bank. The pantry also gets direct food donations from church members.

Four bags went to Tom McDowall, who waited in line on a cold December morning as a first-time recipient of help. McDowell, an owner of a foundation repair company, said a stroke a year ago wiped out most of his income.

?It's humbling,? he said. ?I'm calling the groups that used to work for me so I can ask them for work.?

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/grace_of_giving/article/Church-determined-to-keep-food-pantry-going-2432280.php

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