Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2012 Issue | Page 19

shop.” Guests bring shopping carts or
rolling suitcases with them, and very
rarely is there any leftover food. “The
individual who’s coming to shop is
greeted warmly, and really made to feel
very comfortable about what they’re
doing,” said Smith.

Church of the Epiphany, Herndon
volunteer Shirley Vaughan works at
the bread table at the pantry located
in the sanctuary of the Community of
Faith United Methodist Church.
Caroline Roberts, Candy Means and
Wendy Clatterbuck of Christ Church,
Millwood, stand outside the doors of
their food pantry.

“It’s been super successful,” said
Chirico. “We have more volunteers now
than we’ve ever had.” Plus, she added,
“We’ve actually had people join as a
result – it’s been really transformative.”
CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY,
HERNDON

The Church of the Epiphany,
Herndon has formed an ecumenical
partnership to support their food
pantry ministry. Epiphany works
with the Community of Faith United
Methodist Church and Fairfax Area
Christian Emergency and Transitional
Services to offer a market-style food
pantry every Tuesday evening.

Originally started as an effort of
Epiphany years ago, the food pantry
ministry eventually transitioned to
solely a Methodist endeavor. But
while Epiphany was worshipping in
a temporary space as a continuing
congregation, they decided to get
back involved. The group organized
a field trip to the Community of Faith
United Methodist Church, where they
discovered a whole sanctuary full
of tables loaded with breads, fruits,
vegetables and dried goods. “We
were just in awe,” said Sally Savas, the
ministry leader from Epiphany.

And so members of Epiphany
have re-partnered with the Methodist

congregation over the past year. They
help pick up the food from 10 different
grocery stores and restaurants across
the area. They register their guests, and
lead each one through the “shop” to
pick out food. “What I think is so neat,
for me especially, is getting to know the
clients,” said Savas.
CHRIST CHURCH, ALEXANDRIA

Christ Church, Alexandria has had
a food bank for as long as anyone can
remember. But when Michele Smith,
director of outreach and mission for
Christ Church, attended a Hunger
Summit offered by the Capital Area
Food Bank, they were inspired to take
things up a notch and transform their
traditional food-bank into a marketstyle model.

“The barrier for us was the size of
our office,” said Smith. “Where in the
world were we going to do this?” With
the help of a diocesan Mustard Seed
Grant, the church invested in some
rolling baker’s racks, positioned in the
hallway outside the rector’s office. Each
week the racks are filled with food not
only from the Food Bank, but also from
Panera Bread, Trader Joe’s and even
a local farmer’s market. “We have an
immense amount of bounty,” said Smith.

Almost 40 volunteers contribute
to the success of the Client Choice Food
Pantry. “I just thought the food bank
did a great job of teaching about this
model, and encouraging more people
to move to the model,” said Smith. It’s
“a more dignified way for people to

CHRIST CHURCH, MILLWOOD

Like Christ Church, Alexandria,
one of the challenges for the pantry at
Christ Church, Millwood is space. They
opened their pantry in 2010, working out
of shelves in an unused choir closet with
no refrigeration, serving 16 families in
Clarke County. Since then, their capacity
has increased to feeding 60 families, and
grants from the diocesan Mustard Seed
Fund and the Land O’Lakes Foundation
have facilitated the growth of the
pantry and the purchase of freezers.

In addition to packaging boxes
for their clients, “On first Fridays,
we transform the office into a small
grocery store,” said Wendy Clatterbuck
of Christ Church. Everything has its
place: breads donated from WalMart
and Wegmans, pastries and baked
goods, pet food. Volunteers escort
each guest through the shop, ending at
the produce section – where they even
include special instructions and recipes
for “specialty” items, like spaghetti
squash. In the growing season, the
pantry receives fresh produce from a
local community garden.

As the church has seen the
ministry succeed, the vestry has started
to investigate converting the church
undercroft into a more accessible
space for a market-style pantry. “We
know that no client wants to be at
the pantry, and by doing our best to
recreate a grocery store, we believe
that we make their experience as
pleasant and respectful as possible,”
said Clatterbuck.
ST. THOMAS’, RICHMOND

St. Thomas’ transformation
from a traditional food bank to the
market-style model was a gradual
one. It started about a year ago
when volunteers decided to create a
hospitality table for guests, to welcome
them and serve coffee. “That made a
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Summer 2012 / VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN

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