On Frankston’s Pantry Plus and their Pluses

Peninsula City Church is a Pentecostal Church in Frankston, which prides itself in assisting the local community. One of the key ways it does this is through its Pantry Plus Program. Pantry Plus was launched in 2014 by Katharine Goschnick and operates from the Church Care House every Tuesday from 10:00am-1:45pm.

 

Katherine says the aim of Pantry Plus is to provide food for under-resourced people in the community. She goes on to say, “… but not just to provide food, it’s to provide, uh, relational contexts with our volunteers and our Pantry Plus community”.

 

Pantry Plus is different to other organisations because of their “Plus” aspect. This involves providing material goods to those in need as well as community through the Church.

 

If someone wants to attend the Pantry, they must book an appointment through the Church office. With this appointment, they then receive a one-on-one meeting with a Pantry Plus volunteer where they discuss the client’s situation and how the Pantry might be able to help them. The volunteer then takes the client through the Pantry and helps them collect the goods they may need for the coming week.

 

Katharine believes this is where they are different, because they intentionally spend time with their clients. She believes that many other organisations are just wanting to get as many people through their doors as they can, and so they do not invest in that quality one-on-one time with their guests, whereas Pantry Plus highly values forming relationships with the people that attend.

 

A few clients were asked what they like about Pantry Plus, and they had only positive things to say about it. Client Daniel* stated, “I like it that we get food, so you don’t have to go without; so instead of starving you actually have food in your stomach. And, the people here are absolutely brilliant.” Another client, Clara*, went on to add, “I like it because it helps me to provide better meals for my children.”

 

Pantry Plus is an excellent program within the Frankston community. Katharine believes that they are different because they make sure they form personal relationships with their guests. Pantry Plus makes sure that everyone has a place to go where they can feel a sense of belonging.

 

*The names of Daniel and Clara have been changed to protect their privacy.

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

 

 

About Shannon Cole

My name is Shannon Cole and I am 20 years old. I am a journalism student at Deakin University, while also working part-time as a swimming instructor. I got the opportunity to write for The Footy Almanac through one of my university units, and I also have a personal blog where I post articles (www.shannonjournalism.com), so feel free to check that out. I hope you enjoy my articles and keep an eye out for any new ones I post!

Comments

  1. Great stuff Pantry Plus and Shannon for bringing us the story. Love the way they combine the food service with human connection. Without community and connection we are all nothing. Dunno that I can come to terms with the modern PC lingo though. “Under resourced people” (struggling)? “Relational contexts” (community/connection/friends)?

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