Nothing can be accomplished on an empty stomach…
The Customer-Choice Food Pantry provides groceries to low-income families in a shopping-style environment. We distribute women’s and children’s clothing and household linens, and provide assistance with benefit programs and referrals to other services. When available, we have information about Medicare/Medicaid, private health insurance, government-issued cell phone services, and the Earned Income and school tax credits.
Pre-packaged bags of groceries are provided on an emergency basis during the week at the reception desk of the Church of St. Francis Xavier.
Guests | Volunteers | Donors | Thanksgiving
Guests
Days of Operation:
Emergency Pantry: Monday – Friday
Customer-Choice: 2nd Saturday of every month (Registration required)
Hours of Operation:
Emergency Pantry: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Customer-Choice: 9:30am – 11:30am (Doors open at 9:00am)
Location:
55 West 15th St., between 5th & 6th Aves.
Questions:
Volunteers
Volunteer Shift:
2nd Saturday, 8:30am – 12:30pm
Location:
55 West 15th St., between 5th & 6th Aves.
Notes:
Spanish- and Chinese-speaking volunteers are especially needed!
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: Many of our guests struggle with health issues and/or do not have access to reliable health care. If you have experienced any symptoms of illness within the last 14 days, please do NOT sign up to volunteer. If you need to cancel your shift, please do so rather than come in sick. Thank you for your consideration!
Donors
25% of what is handed out at Food Pantry is donated by generous people like you. We accept non-perishable food items, food-drive benefits and of course, monetary donations.
Absolutely! Please visit our Donation page for information about monetary donations.
Yes! It helps to offset our out-of-pocket costs for the pantry when we receive the proceeds of a food drive. There are two ways to do a drive:
- Set up an online drive at www.YouGiveGoods.com (preferred method)! An online drive has many benefits to the organizer, the donors, and to Xavier Mission. They include:
- Ease of communications: Information about our organization can be included on the food drive website so people can learn about who they are donating to. A link to the online drive can be easily disseminated to your entire email listserv for maximum participation.
- Convenience: An online drive allows people to make a donation to cover the cost of specific food items without having to actually go out and buy the items, and without the organizer having to transport all of the items at the end of the drive. YouGiveGoods will deliver all of the food that was purchased directly to Xavier Mission!
- Maximum effectiveness: An online drive allows the organizer to specify what food items are needed. This greatly helps Xavier Mission to manage our inventory and not end up with food items that we cannot use, that are damaged, or that are expired. Organizers can contact Xavier Mission to find out what items are most needed and include those items on the online list.
- A traditional in-house food drive, where people drop off donations to a specified location.
Please contact the Director of Outreach if you would like to organize a food drive for Xavier Mission.
We accept donations of non-perishable food items for the pantry. Please contact the Director of Outreach to find out what items are particularly needed.
Thanksgiving
Each year for the Thanksgiving holiday, Xavier Mission provides:
- A Thanksgiving Day dinner for disabled and senior members of our community
- Food baskets (including turkeys!) to our Food Pantry families
- A special Thanksgiving Welcome Table lunch the Sunday following the holiday
In all, we provide nearly 4,000 meals during the holiday week!
Guests
Thanksgiving food distribution is reserved for registered guests of our monthly food pantry. Guests must have visited the pantry in the preceding year and their registration must be up to date (meaning they must have re-registered in September or October).
If you are eligible, the number of food items you receive will be based on the number of people in your household. The number of items for a household of 1-2 people is approximately 20-25. Larger households receive additional items.
Guests will receive a choice of traditional Thanksgiving food items and as well as other food items, including fresh produce. Examples of available items include:
- Dinner Rolls
- Chicken Broth
- White Rice
- Pasta
- Juice
- Shelf-stable Milk
- Sweet Potatoes
- Corn
- Spinach
- Apples
Families also receive a chicken or a turkey depending on family size.
After the October pantry, eligible guests will receive letters with a form included. Guests must return the completed form. Once the completed form has been received, they will be contacted to schedule a time to pick up their basket. Pick-ups are on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Please do not show up without scheduling an appointment!
Volunteers
Sign-ups usually go live in late September or early October. When signups are open, the buttons below will take you to the volunteer registration pages, so keep checking them!
Our Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities span the whole week! We need volunteers on the Saturday before the holiday to distribute pantry food, and during Thanksgiving week to prep in the kitchen. We need volunteers on Wednesday night to help set up and decorate. We need volunteers on Thanksgiving Day to prepare, serve, and clean up after the meal. Please use the buttons below to explore and sign up for a Thanksgiving Week shift.
All volunteer sign-ups are first come-first served. We have volunteer opportunities throughout Thanksgiving week, but the Thanksgiving Day spots tend to fill up very quickly. Thanksgiving Day is the single most requested volunteer opportunity of the entire year. It is also prone to cancellations due to people’s holiday plans changing at the last minute. In order to make sure that those who are registering for this shift are committed to attending, we request a small donation of $40 to reserve a spot. This fee also helps to offset the cost of providing 4,000+ Thanksgiving meals, which is about $25,000.
To register for the Thanksgiving Day meal prep and meal service shifts, please click the ‘Thanksgiving Day’ button below. For all other Thanksgiving volunteer shifts, please use the other corresponding buttons below.
Donors
Absolutely! Please visit our Holiday Hope and Healing Campaign to make a donation for Thanksgiving.
We do accept some food donations for the holiday meals, specifically pies for the Thanksgiving Day dinner and homebound meals. Please contact the Director of Outreach to discuss food donations.
Yes! It helps to offset our out-of-pocket costs for Thanksgiving and our Food Pantry when we receive the proceeds of a food drive. There are two ways to do a drive:
- An online drive (preferred method!) has many benefits to the organizer, the donors, and to Xavier Mission, including:
- Ease of communications: Information about our organization can be included on the food drive website so people can learn about who they are donating to. A link to the online drive can be easily disseminated to your entire email listserv for maximum participation.
- Convenience: An online drive saves donors a trip to the grocery store, and saves the organization from having to pick up all the food at the end of the drive. All of the food that was purchased online will be delivered directly to Xavier Mission!
- Maximum effectiveness: An online drive allows the organizer to specify what food items are needed. This greatly helps Xavier Mission to manage our inventory and not end up with food items that we cannot use, that are damaged, or that are expired.
Please contact the Director of Outreach if you would like to organize a food drive for Xavier Mission.