It’s community pantry day at Shepherd’s Wharf Anglican church. Volunteers are busy putting out signs, cutting cake for morning tea and sorting through some fresh food that the pantry van driver from Anglicare, Christian Rainer picked up from a local mixed business on the way.

Regular shoppers arrive and a church member helps pack their selections from the non-perishable options in the van – cereals, pasta or rice, coffee or tea, tinned goods, long-life milk, snacks, sauces, spreads and more, while another volunteer sits down with a new couple to welcome them and explain how the process works.

Anglicare Sydney began its mobile community pantry service in 2016, and Shepherd’s Wharf Anglican (formerly the parish of Dundas-Telopea) was among the first to sign up. For senior minister the Rev Canon Alistair Seabrook, it was a no-brainer.

“We were very aware of the needs of people in the more socially deprived areas of the parish and [helping them] had been on the hearts of many people, but we had never settled on a clear plan of what we could do,” he recalls.

“When we got the email about the community pantry I thought, ‘This is brilliant!’ It’s a combination of where the local church is strong in relational warmth and connection and where Anglicare is strong in logistical capacity and bringing those things together.

“We are now much more connected to that section of our community... and the training that Anglicare has provided through things like its conference [has helped]. Tips on creating a welcoming culture, the awareness of how to make people feel comfortable and have good conversations that aren’t threatening but are inviting next steps. It’s also adding a pastoral gift to the church, so another benefit from it has become how we welcome guests on Sunday.”

The parish’s pantry co-ordinator for the past decade, Meghan Ryan, notes that the longer people come to the pantry the more they open up, the more relaxed they feel and the longer they stay to chat.

“We’ve also seen how people think of the pantry as their own little community, so they often want to give back in some way – which we don’t expect at all,” she adds. “We’re there to serve them. But once they put down roots into the pantry community, they will bring along things that they want to contribute.

“We used to have a little library as part of the pantry, so one lady used to bring bookmarks that she had made... Shoppers who have veggie gardens bring along their own excess produce to give away to other shoppers, so it becomes a real community.”

Mrs Ryan has experienced “so many lovely moments” over the past 10 years but says that her greatest joy throughout that time has been the ability to “show God’s love to our community on a regular basis in such a practical way. That might sound very trite or predictable, but it is such a joy to be able to help relieve someone’s burden, to ease their difficulties, to show them that they are loved and valued just for who they are, not for what they can offer back to us or anything like that. Just to make a difference for people over such a long period of time.”

Support at the parish level

The mobile community pantry grew out of a desire in Anglicare’s food and financial assistance arm (now rebranded as financial wellbeing and community) to find a way of getting low-cost groceries out in the community.

At a recent celebration event to mark the 10th anniversary of the community pantries, the former head of food and financial assistance, Teresa Clark, described how staff discussion originally centred around offering a pantry-like system from Anglicare offices, until someone raised the idea of putting it on wheels to get it further out into the community. This then raised the possibility of partnership with churches, and the plans grew from there.

“The dream at the start was to just get it across the line,” she says, adding that when five sites came on board in the first year “we were so excited... then we were excited to get to 10!” And she noticed that each time a new parish joined the program, church members considered how best to make it work for their own community.

“It was literally different in every place that you looked; that always brought me a lot of joy,” she says. “But when COVID hit and we had to shut down I was so encouraged and humbled by every church who said, ‘No, no we want to stay open’. They wanted to be there for their communities. That was really encouraging to me... that we can do this. We can make this happen.”

It’s now a well-entrenched ministry in dozens of parishes across NSW – mostly in the Sydney Diocese, although there are eight pantries in New England, the northwest and central west, and more to come.

A bag of groceries worth more than $50 at the supermarket usually costs shoppers $15, and surveys done across the pantry network last year showed that almost all customers had fewer worries about having enough food or being able to manage their household budget as a result.

“We’re just so grateful to be able to help,” says Ruth Williams, who co-ordinates the pantry at Moss Vale Anglican with her husband Graeme. “Whatever we can contribute to help make it work for people has got to be worth it.”

She says interactions with others at the pantry is very valuable for shoppers, who often welcome having someone to talk to. “There’s a lot of loneliness. They’re lonely and haven’t got enough food as well – it’s not a good situation.”

Moss Vale’s pantry runs differently to many others in that it is open every week. The Anglicare van comes fortnightly, but Oz Harvest brings fresh food weekly from local supermarkets that is close to its use-by date – including meat and dairy products. This is then sorted and laid out on trestle tables for shoppers to select.

From time to time the church also receives extra produce from local farms, or leftover gourmet sandwiches from a nearby café. It’s all welcome, and free for shoppers, who make their choices before sitting down for a cuppa, a homemade slice and a chat with volunteers.

Says Mrs Williams: “One particular lady that has been through really tough times... every time that she chooses some meat or whatever she says, ‘You will never know how much I appreciate this, because I’m too embarrassed to tell you where I’ve been’. And it nearly makes me cry. We can see how people appreciate it... there’s enough for everyone to cook simple meals and it’s making a big difference.”

Love in action

Anglicare’s CEO Simon Miller says that the 10th anniversary of the mobile community pantry is “a great time to reflect on how far we’ve come and what we’ve achieved”. A report highlighting the social impact of the pantry was released at the anniversary celebration in March, which assessed the effect the service has had on volunteers as well as customers.

In the report, 70 per cent of church volunteers said their faith had deepened through involvement with the pantry, describing it as “a way to live out their faith in a practical way while serving people experiencing hardship”. Almost all agreed that it had given them a greater understanding of social disadvantage in their area and more empathy for those experiencing it, as well as increased connections and new friendships in the wider community.

While demographics change at each pantry, the overall picture from 2025 shows that nearly 60 per cent of those who attend are over 65 and the vast majority of customers are women. Most come each time the pantry is available. Over the course of the year, the pantries had more than 25,000 customer visits and sold close to 29,000 bags of groceries, while 13,500 kilograms of fresh food were rescued from landfill.

The report also shows that, for the shoppers, life is consistently less stressful thanks to the community pantry. Almost all those surveyed said that they had more money for rent, utilities and medical needs. They also reported feeling welcomed and valued by the church volunteers.

One customer said that they were embarrassed when they first came to the pantry, “but the good folk here were so welcoming, respectful and helpful that I was made to feel comfortable straight away”. Another shopper, Fran, added that “at the end of the day, it’s the relationships that matter... Knowing that there’s someone out there who cares, who knows you”.

Isha admitted that before coming to the pantry she “skipped a lot of food items” because she had to think about rent and other costs, while Belinda noted that the pantry’s existence “does ease our minds... I don’t need to feel like I have to go to the supermarket this time. So, less stress. There’ll be some stuff in the fridge.”

Adds Mr Miller: “There are lots of services across Sydney that hand out food, but I think what the report actually shows is that the mobile community pantry is much more than food. That comes through really richly in the feedback. It’s the connections that people make – the connections between volunteers, between volunteers and parishes, between volunteers and shoppers... that whole depth of relationship. Customers describe moving from embarrassment to comfort and from isolation to inclusion.

“I think it’s beautiful to see the creativity and evolution of the idea as churches grab hold of the mustard seed, as it was described, and see that blossom into something that takes a particular form in a particular community. That really does show Christ’s love in action.”

Creativity and community

A parish where this creativity is clearly visible is Holy Trinity, Wentworth Falls, which has a weekly, parish-run op shop onsite in addition to a fortnightly café that coincides with its pantry van visits. The head of the op shop committee, Robyn McKinney, explains that around the same time as the church was investigating the possibility of bringing a community pantry to Wentworth Falls, they discovered a church member who was a barista with his own coffee machine was “looking for a ministry” with his skills.

The two seemed a perfect fit, and in 2019 the van and café combo began operating every second Friday. The café has low-cost drinks and free morning tea, which is available before and after the pantry van.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a group of people who so love what they’re doing!” Mrs McKinney says of the volunteers. “I prepare the rosters and there’s room so that people can have a week off if they want to... but even if they’re not in a particular role, they just love being there.”

“They are little communities... and it’s small enough that we can really get to know the shoppers by name. When we roster people on to the different roles, every week we always have two or three people whose role is just chatting, moving around and chatting with people. Many of our team would consider that to be the most important role.”

A few students from Blue Mountains Grammar School also help out each fortnight as part of their community service program – packing groceries from the van, helping in the kitchen or op shop and taking café orders. In addition, a local German bakery gives the church any leftover products from the previous day, so a range of breads and pastries can be offered to shoppers free of charge.

Mrs McKinney says people usually arrive well ahead of opening time for both the pantry and the op shop.

“We also have some people who just come for the coffee!” she says. “Rather than going into the village on the Friday they come to the church and have their coffees there and we like that. It’s lovely coffee and it’s cheaper. And because the op shop is open from 9am they go over and shop while they’re waiting.”

“Our team is very committed to glorifying God in whatever ways we can. And we’re very committed to people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus as well as meeting their other needs. We have many people who are socially isolated and they have very strong social needs, and we have people living with financial pressures as well. So, it’s very good to be able to meet a whole variety of needs.”

Long-distance shopper support

It’s a long drive from anywhere to Lightning Ridge, but that hasn’t deterred Anglicare from setting up its newest community pantry in the town.

“We are anticipating it could be a really life-changing thing for this community,” says Claire Dunlop, the head of regional community and mission work for Anglicare New England, North West and Central West.

She and her team cover an area “the size of two Tasmanias” and are excited by the opportunity to stretch their support as far as Lightning Ridge. They feel God has opened the door for it to happen, thanks to a generous one-off donation, the offer of a pantry van from Anglicare in Sydney, and a volunteer couple willing to make the six-hour return drive from Moree to the Ridge each fortnight. Mrs Dunlop explains that Moree is the nearest large town, and the most well-located place for the pantry food to be delivered. But Lightning Ridge needs this extra support, she says, as there is only a single supermarket in town.

“There’s food insecurity out there because there is only one place to shop, so having a second option allows for people to save some money... if you think about how community development works, if you’re able to help people have an alternative option for buying food, that frees up money to help them pay other bills. This ends up changing the fabric of the community.

“It’s not just about providing food but changing the Lightning Ridge landscape.

“This is such a terrific opportunity to partner with the local church to provide for a really genuine need in the community. But it also provides opportunities for [the minister] Kurt Langmead and the team out there to build relationships with people as they come to the pantry. Anglicare and our volunteers, we do the physical selling of the product, but Kurt and his team do all the pastoral care and make all the connections. They’re chatting and having the cups of tea with people as they come.”

The soft launch of the Lightning Ridge pantry will be this month and, if it works well, the hope is to include the towns of Collarenebri and Walgett in the region’s pantry route.

The snag, as ever, is the cost. Each bag of groceries needs to be $20 – $5 more than the average price in Sydney – but the fuel spike in recent months has complicated everything.

“It’s about a 500-kilometre round trip from where the van is housed, and when we budgeted for fuel based on the price of petrol a couple of months ago it was $130 per trip. Now it’s $215 and this is entirely run on donations so that runs through our donor money really fast!

“It’s a real problem. If people were able to donate to help us pay for fuel to get into these remote areas, that would help secure the program for years.”

Those interested in helping fund the fuel for Lightning Ridge and other remote community pantries should go to Anglicare.org.au/nenw