Construction is expected to be complete by late summer and Table of Grace is expected to open in the fall, the church says. merged with Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2016 to form Grace Presbyterian, the feeding ministry became the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.
“When the church thought about what it wanted to do with those funds, we knew we wanted to use them for people outside of Grace, rather than on ourselves,” said Linda Grote, a member of Grace who serves on the task force overseeing construction. “We wanted to make a major investment in this community.”
Table of Grace will have increased freezer, refrigeration, and storage space and offer more food to more families in the community, church leaders said. The current Food Pantry monthly serves 250-300 households, approximately 600 to 800 people. In 2022, the pantry gave away over 85,000 pounds of food. Anyone who qualifies for SNAP, TANF, SSI automatically qualifies to receive free food from the pantry and others may qualify if they meet certain income eligibility requirements.
“Table of Grace reflects who we are as a church,” said Emily Altman, chairperson of Grace’s Mission, Peace, and Justice Committee. “We are a church that feeds God’s people.”