How local food pantries provide an avenue for all to lend a hand

This article was written for our sponsor, the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh.

The Catholic Church has a long history of community aid. Starting in the early 1900s, Catholics from across the country formed the National Conference of Catholic Charities, dedicated to advocating for the poor and helping those less fortunate.

In North Carolina, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh, Inc. started in 1898 as the Catholic Orphanage of North Carolina. Since the 1980s, it has been a recognized nonprofit, providing important aid to communities across the state.

The national Catholic Charities organization, Catholic Charities USA, has served over 15 million people, distributing 20 million pounds of food, $13 million in disaster relief funds and health and wellness services for over 500,000 people.

In North Carolina in particular, the local food banks have been instrumental in community aid.

"The Diocese of Raleigh covers about half of eastern North Carolina, and we have five food pantries spread throughout the region," said Daniel Altenau, director of communications and disaster services at the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh. "These pantries distribute approximately three million pounds of food each year. Some are larger, some are smaller, but the goal of helping those in need in our communities is the same."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fayetteville Food Pantry, part of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh's work, saw an immense increase in demand. While the pantry was already an invaluable community resource, director Abram Flores saw a surge in need.

Luckily, the pantry has also seen a surge in volunteers.

"Here in Fayetteville, about 85% of our workforce is volunteers — we only have three paid staff and about 20 volunteers. Without volunteers, this office would not run," said Flores. "We have volunteers from across the board, whether they're Catholic, Presbyterian or not religious at all. Then, they're able to take what they do and see here, and bring it to their own community, and that's how we're able to get more clients to come in and really expand our impact."

For Flores, the fact that the pantry draws in people from all religions — even though it's directly related to the Catholic Church — is a testament to both the work they're doing and the similarities that still exist between those with different beliefs.

"The values and the principles that we have in Catholic Charities are the same values that others have. If you remove Catholic from our name, we still have that common denominator of charity, and those associated values and principles," said Flores. "I hear comments from all my volunteers that they've been able to survive the pandemic, and it's in their values and principles to share with those who can't. They share in that commitment to service that we have, and we've been able to see our volunteer base frown throughout the pandemic."

The food pantries across the state are just one of the many vital aid programs that the Catholic Charities USA program provides.

The charity branch at the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh also provides things like disaster relief services on the heels of hurricanes, a Support Circle Program that aims to alleviate homelessness by helping transition people into permanent housing, and a Senior Pharmacy Program that helps low-income seniors afford their prescriptions.

And Flores is always looking for ways to continue meeting the needs of local communities. In fact, he's even working on a community project to make the food bank more mobile.

"I spoke with Catholic churches, non-Catholic churches and other nonprofits to see if the need is there —and the need has always been there, but we may have just been neglecting it. We have a community that cannot reach our food pantry because of transportation, so now we're going to go into those communities for them," said Flores. "This will hopefully be a combination of everything — how our services will be reaching neglected areas that haven't been reached before, and how we're getting help from volunteers from all backgrounds to do it."

This article was written for our sponsor, the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh.