CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- With the holiday season right around the corner and inflation still making it difficult for many to put food on the table, a Chester nonprofit wants to provide Thanksgiving meals for families in need.
Engage Food Pantry is located inside a small church near the intersection of West Hundred and Old Bermuda Hundred Roads.
It may not look like much from the parking lot, but inside these four walls and adjoining shed, thousands of Central Virginians pick up their weekly groceries and have done so for more than 15 years.
"We have some limes," said volunteer Simone Johnson, as she packed a meal box. "This is beautiful."
She calls herself the food pantry girl because Engage has become her second home.
"This is something that is a part of me now," she shared.
It’s a place she can give back, but where she also once had to take.
"During Covid, my place of work actually got shut down," said Johnson. "I was not able to work, and you know people are always like, there are resources out there. But everybody was not, you know, couldn't get all those resources. I was denied some resources. So being here at the food pantry did help me supplement my food and make sure that I was able to eat.”
Now every week, Johnson packages meal boxes with meat, bread and vegetables for a group of people who maybe haven’t felt cared about for a long time.
"A lot of the people that we deal with are the working poor," explained food pantry director, Didi Gray. "They are people who do not qualify for social services, do not qualify for food stamps. They are grandparents raising children, they're single parents, they're veterans. They are a community that that is underserviced.”
While Gray runs the food pantry, she's also a woman Johnson and the other volunteers consider a second mom.
"I wish people could see how much she puts herself in the fire for us," cried Johnson. "I wish people could see how much she doesn't sleep, or how she takes her own personal money to put food on the shelves because we might not have any.”
"I really liked helping people like Ms. Didi," noted volunteer James Hudson. "She's awesome.”
Gray has opened the door for Hudson to connect with his community.
"They can help you help people because that's what they do for me," Johnson smiled.
"Everybody has a place here," said Gray. "If you have a physical disability, we'll let you sit down and you know you can pack the food for us."
But another big goal Gray has set this year: providing Thanksgiving meal boxes for 100 families.
"If your family is not able to celebrate, sometimes it can really feel like you're being left out, or it can make for an ill feeling inside," explained Johnson.
Meal and monetary donations will help ensure that doesn’t happen, according to Engage.
"Blessings can flow through," said Johnson.
But if you can’t afford to donate money or items, Engage asks you consider the gift of time and volunteering.
“I'd love to see more people around," said Hudson. "Have someone else to talk to and really get to know.”
Johnson, Gray and Hudson promise you won't regret it.
"Get some prayer, get some loving, and leave here encouraged," smiled Gray.
Engage Food Pantry is open every Thursday and every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p. m. If you’d like to donate, visit this link: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTIyMDg0.
