How to Help

Donate Food / Food Drives

The food pantry relies on donations from our local community to keep its shelves stocked.  There are a couple of great ways to donate food to the food pantry.  One is to donate individually.  Remember us when you do your pantry cleaning.  We accept all non-perishable food donations, as long as the container is not damaged and it meets out expiration guidelines.  We do accept expired food, but we follow a national guideline to ensure the quality of the item.  Another great way to donate individually is by keeping our standard food list handy (on your fridge or where you make your grocery list).  When you look at sale ads, keep our list in mind and then purchase those items on sale.

Donating as a group can also be a very effective way to bring in large amount of food in a fairly easy way.  Go to your place of work, worship or other organization and host a food drive.  This benefits both parties, as you create a sense of unity within your group by coming together to help others, and the food pantry receives the things you bring in.  If you’d like ideas on how to start and run a food drive, please contact us and we’d be glad to help!

Donate Funds

Donating money is  good option for someone who wishes to help keep our shelves full, but does not have time to either go purchase food or arrange a food drive within their business, church or organization.  Having money donated allows us to purchase the items we most need, therefore helping us in the most efficient way possible.  All donations are tax-deductible and will be put to use in the most effective way possible to fulfill our mission to feed the hungry in our community.  If you are interested in donating money, you can mail it in, checks can be sent to P.O. Box 225, Mt. Vernon, IN 47620 or brought in during business hours, or simply click our donation button on this website and donate immediately!  You do not need a PayPal account to donate online, all major credit/debit cards are accepted.

Donate Time

The food pantry would not stay open if it weren’t for our volunteers who give of their time so generously.  We rely solely on volunteers to keep things running, and we value their commitment to our mission.  There are a couple of ways to donate your time to the food pantry.  You can volunteer to help serve our clients.  This is a once per month commitment for approximately three hours, between 9:00am and 12:00pm on our open days.  We also, on occasion, get very large donations and need extra help on those days to sort and stock our shelves.  You can be on this list to help on those days as well, but is not guaranteed you will be called.  It is only on an as needed basis.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us by email or phone.