Cameron Morgan joined the Durham Community Food Pantry (DCFP) team in April 2020 having previously worked at “The Scrap Exchange,” next door. However, Cameron had actually already worked with the DCFP since its inception in 2019. As the Covid-19 pandemic began to grow, the DCFP found itself in a precarious situation. It needed to continue growing and serving the community and navigate the serious danger posed by the rapidly worsening virus. Since reopening to the… Read More
Gordon Davis started volunteering in February 2020 at the Durham Community Food Pantry and has since become a key volunteer. Davis, more commonly known as “G-man,” loves gluten-free, savory foods! He is always ready to better serve the clients of our community and always looks out for his fellow volunteers. Davis initially stepped in to help with food distribution, serving the community during our drive-through operations hours. He also frequently used his handyman skills to… Read More
Each week, some of the produce donated to the Durham Community Food Pantry (DCFP) may be old, or not suitable to be distributed to the public. The DCFP works with community partners to dispose of this unusable food in a way that reduces costs for the pantry while having a positive environmental impact. One such partner is Lewis, who uses food that can’t be distributed as chicken feed and to create soil compost! In addition… Read More
In summer 2020, the produce-packing room at the Durham Community Food Pantry filled with the smells of oregano, cilantro, parsley, thyme, and basil. Local organizations such as the Scrap Exchange and churches such as Holy Cross kindly donated bundles of herbs and vegetables every week fresh from their community gardens. Each Tuesday, volunteers marveled at the bright peppers and bulbous tomatoes. Families received boxes filled to the brim with local produce and flavors of North… Read More
Generating Resources and Opportunities for Wellness – that is the mission of the GROW project and how the program got its name. Founded by a group of UNC Chapel Hill undergraduates, GROW is “a social innovation project” aiming to “create resources and opportunities centered around mental, physical, and nutritional wellness for those experiencing food insecurity in the Triangle.” The GROW team plans to curate these resources for Durham Community Food Pantry clients through a series… Read More
Debbie Reed moved to Durham in 2014, after a career as a management consultant for both For-Profit and Non-Profit organizations. Her Non-Profit career took her through various parts of the world including India, Tanzania, and Kenya before arriving in New York as the COO of the National Academy Foundation. At the National Academy Foundation, Reed supported the agencies mission to create specialized programs within public high schools to teach students essential personal and professional skills… Read More
*For privacy concerns, names were changed in this story. Eviction is a reality that far too many families face when they struggle to pay their bills each month. This is the situation that Diane Lane found herself in before coming to the Durham Community Food Pantry, a program of Catholic Charities. After suffering job related injuries, Lane’s monthly income dwindled down to only $400 a month. As a result, she was struggling to pay her… Read More
While all food pantries provide clients with groceries, there exist varying pantry operation models, each with their own benefits and accompanying challenges. Over the past several decades, doctors, nutritionists, sociologists, policy analysts, and other social scientists have studied the methods and operations of different food pantry models. Their work has reviewed the effects of operations on clients’ individual lifestyles, as well as the effects of operations within larger social structures. This research has resulted in… Read More
The Newman Catholic Student Center Parish at UNC Chapel Hill (NCSCP) is a pivotal and invaluable partner to the Catholic Charities Durham Community Food Pantry (DCFP). Since the inception of the DCFP, the NCSCP has been an ardent supporter in providing food drives, as well as individual donations. This fall, the NCSCP held their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive in support of the DCFP, titled the “Trunk to Truck Thanksgiving Food Drive.” Through this effort, parishioners… Read More
Suzan Perry started volunteering with the Durham Community Food Pantry in April 2020, right as the food pantry was adapting to distributing groceries during COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, many volunteers had decided to stay home for their safety, leaving a gap in serving the community. Staff conducted outreach efforts to find additional volunteers, which successfully recruited new dedicated helpers like Perry. “Without new volunteers like Suzan, we would not have been able to respond… Read More
