Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry - Prospect Park, Pennsylvania

J

Very nice people, great set up inside, great options as far as food , also has baby formula , cleaning products and pet food too. Just a tad disorganized as far as number system and waiting but well worth it. They also help with bags to car! Once a month visits allowed, take your own bags as well…

BurstDmg

I had given this pantry 5 stars about 3 years ago. I had to change that to 1 star today. It wasnt a super cold day, but it was very windy. I arrived and there were about 15 people there. Their new policy is you go get a number when you arrive, and those numbers are random. So, if you're the first person in line, you may be there for another 2 hours because you drew #30. That happened to someone today. They were the 2nd person in line, arriving over 90 minutes early to make sure they were served, and they picked #30. There werent even 30 people there. She wound up being last, even though she was the 2nd person there. I'm told that they do a lottery system because they dont want anyone to camp out on their lawn. This is incredibly bad. If there are only 15 people there, why hand out number 25 or 30? Use your common sense and do a lottery system but only use the numbers that represent the number of people there. What I mean is, if there are 15 people there, take out all the numbers above 15 and do the lottery. That way the worst you can get is 15th in line instead of 30th and have watch people that just walked up get served before you. I wouldnt be surprised if there were fights over the way they do this. I got #21 and wasnt served until over 2 hours later.

Now, once you're inside they take your info and give you a card that you can show next time to bypass this step. They have it set up like aisles in a grocery store. A staff member walks with you and has a small shopping cart. They explain how many of each item you're allowed to take. One of the reasons this take so long, is they allow people to start reading labels and checking out nutritional info. They took #10 at 12:47pm, then took #11 at 1:03pm. So everyone still waiting suffered longer through the cold so that this person could go over every detail with a fine toothed comb. Nobody there was under 30 years old, so they already should know nutritional info without having to look. Its not like their handing out items we've never seen before...you get whats left over and donated, so these are usually very common items. So over 15 minutes because of 1 person. 11 through 21 were served in an hour but this lady took 15 minutes all by herself. Anyway, its not a very large room. I'd say 25'x35', and half of the space are shelves with food on it, so people should be able to get through pretty quickly. Unfortunately, they were only latter like 2 people at a time grab food. There would be 2-3 people inside "shopping" and like 12 staff members. The pantry itself is pretty good, but the way its run is one of the most ineffective ways to run it. To add to the misery, they had a heat lamp outside where we wait, but wouldnt turn it on to ease our suffering. I guess you're not as important when you're taking instead of giving. Pay attention to expiration dates (when you get home) because they hand out expired stuff. I still have to check my items but already saw that the cheese they gave me expired over 2 weeks ago. There's a picture of it included. Today is January 28th.

Joy W.

This food pantry is amazing and the staff is so helpful. It is set up like a small grocery store and a staff member walks and tells you what you can have of each item. Once your cart is full they get. New cart and they box up everything for you when you re finished. They bring it all to the car.

Ashley F.

I wish they did their tickets differently. Otherwise people who have been out in the cold waiting for 2 hours to get food. End up drawing a number and it's like the 2nd last number. They only give out 30. That's not fair especially if you were already there early enough to stand in line.

Cheryl B.

Have always had a good experience with Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, until today. I couldn’t afford a thanksgiving turkey this year and i was hoping they could help me, but my family is only 2 people and they were only giving turkeys to families with 4 or more people. They are good people doing good things for needy families, but I guess a 2 person family isn’t needy enough.

Christina M.

Amazing place to volunteer and to be a client. The staff are welcoming, loving, and it's an amazing place to be. They really care about people.

tracey B.

This place is a food pantry. Plenty of delicious items. You are provided with a number. Upon your turn, you will be shopping with an aid who will help you select items. Once you are done, they help carry items to your car. Very friendly and helpful staff. I recommend taking water, something small to nibble on, and a folding chair as you wait cause you will be outside until called in. Also there is no protection from the sun. Use an umbrella, sun screen or some other form of protection. It's quite easy to become overheated or sun burned as the wait can be at least 1hr minimum, depending on your place in line.

Derek W.

This place relieves a huge part of my monthly food bill. I'm so grateful that they provide this service to our community.