The Father McKenna Center operates a daily Food Pantry for low-income families, particularly seniors, who are residents of Ward 6. As our city, and particularly our Ward, has redeveloped many of our long-term residents are experiencing food insecurity. The Center has been meeting these needs since we were founded in 1983, and there is more demand than ever before.

The Food Pantry is open each weekday. Families seeking food assistance check-in with volunteers and have a shopping experience allowing them to select the products they want to meet their specific family’s needs. We find this approach to be rewarding – supporting healthy meals, the dignity of choice, and reducing waste.

Families may visit the Food Pantry as often as every two weeks. We provide food that supports more than 45,000 meals annually. The Food Pantry also builds community – the same families will regularly shop on the same schedule, building relationships with each other and the volunteers.

We believe that reducing a family’s anxiety about putting food on the table, allows space for the grace of sharing, conversation, and care around that table. In the words of our inspiration, Fr. Horace McKenna, “You cannot speak to a person about his or her soul, when they have no food.”

The Father McKenna Center Food Pantry provides an atypical pantry experience by offering both non-perishable and fresh goods. We stock the Pantry with food from the Capital Area Food Bank, private and group donations, and purchases made possible by our donors.

Cash donations are the most flexible way for us to meet the changing needs of the Food Pantry’s patrons. We also welcome organizations holding canned food drives, as we know this reveals the challenge of food insecurity in our communities and promotes dialogue. We do maintain a specific needs list, please contact Ned Hogan for details.