Who We Are
What We Do
The prior church/community partnership created a shared purpose of giving in Chester County. Through greater involvement of the corporate community and individual foundations, The People’s Pantry has expanded its services to families needing assistance throughout the Malvern, Frazer, Charlestown and Willistown areas. We are open during the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays and Saturdays of the month from 9:00 to 10:30 am. We provide non-perishable food items, as well as eggs, meat, dairy products, laundry detergent, toiletries, disposable diapers and paper products.
Throughout the summer, school supplies are collected and distributed in August to the children by the Pantry. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, families are offered turkeys and fresh produce, as well as the normal Pantry offerings.
During the holiday season, a special program provides additional support and care for families in the community. Hundreds of families receive gifts of love that include winter coats, hats, gloves, boots, age appropriate toys, bikes, as well as turkeys, food, and much more. The program serves four communities: regular Pantry clients, Great Valley School District families, as well as families in Coatesville and Norristown. The value of gifts, food and merchandise distributed through the Pantry totals more than $200,000 per year.
As we continue to grow our mission to support more families, your financial contributions make a difference. Your partnership in support of these community programs will assist in reshaping and transforming the lives of these families who are often the most neglected. Join with us to build a place of hope for the citizens throughout the area.
Our History
For decades Covenant Presbyterian Church on Route 30 has partnered with the citizens of Chester County to make a positive difference for families facing difficulties. In 1984, a Covenant member who was also a school nurse in the Great Valley School District approached the church leadership with an idea to help families needing temporary assistance during the holidays. As a result, the Christmas Family Giving Program was born. When the nurse retired from the school district in 1990, Covenant agreed to operate the program. Since then, the program has grown from supporting five local families to now having served hundreds of families across Chester County.
In 1990, the idea of expanding the Christmas Family Program into a year round food program originated. Initially church volunteers gave out pre-packaged bags of food to families temporarily in need. Later, when additional space became available in Covenant’s Christian Education building (previously the church manse), church members went to work fitting rooms with shelving to store donated materials and began to organize volunteers to serve the expanding number of families. Donors contributed food, clothing, and school supplies; and the Pantry became open to the community.
In 2012, the former Covenant Pantry was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-religious entity separate from the church, which was renamed the People’s Pantry at Church Road. It was apparent that the Pantry building, constructed in 1840, was inadequate to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding programs offered there, which led to a search for a new facility. Fortuitously, at the same time, a commercial building located adjacent to the church parking lot came on the market with enough space to house both the Pantry and a community center needed for church and neighborhood activities. Purchased by Covenant, this facility required extensive renovations, which, when completed, provided a spacious new home for the Pantry.