None of the clients I met knew that the nondenominational, all-volunteer organization was honored by GreatNonprofits.org as one of the nation's 50 best food and shelter organizations in 2009. But none of them was surprised.
"I've been coming for five years," says Barbara Bond, 40, a married mother of two who owns a mobile home and cleans offices at night. "They make you feel welcome. They don't look down on you."
The hidden hungry
The pantry's prominent location on upscale Lancaster Avenue belies its clients' low profile. In a suburban county with a median income of $82,979, who could possibly be going hungry?
"People always ask me, 'Where are all these needy people in Chester County?' " longtime director Jan Leaf says. "I say, 'You rub shoulders with them every day.' " They are ringing up purchases and waiting tables across suburbia.
Chester County may rank second in the state for food production, but 10 percent of residents miss meals for lack of money.
In 2006, the Lord's Pantry served just 1,200 people; in 2009, 15,336. Last month, an all-time high of 60 families showed up on a single day. To be eligible, a family of four can earn up to $33,075 a year, individuals $16,245.
In the last few years, Leaf has seen the client base shift to working families and middle-class couples coping with job loss. The plight of single mothers has worsened, too, as evidenced by a recent emergency in the aisle stocked with diapers and formula:
The frantic mother, Leaf recalls, "actually changed her baby right here. She had run out and had no money. We're lucky we had her size in stock that night."
Lately, Leaf has also noticed a sharp increase in familiar faces in the crowded waiting room.
