Food Pantry

The LCS Food Pantry at St. Stephen's is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 9 a.m. - noon and Wednesday, 5-7 pm. Pre-registration is needed for this program. Clients can apply during pantry hours. Please bring a photo ID for the head of the household and IDs for other household members. Medicaid and birth certificates are accepted for children. Clients may visit one LCS food pantry per week.

The food pantry distributes free produce 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month from 5-7 pm. 

The food pantry is closed on major holidays. Please click here for the holiday schedule. The pantry also is closed when the public schools close due to inclement weather.

St. Stephen's partners with Lutheran Community Services to distribute food. The LCS Food Pantry at St. Stephen's is the largest volume Lutheran food pantry in the state of Delaware and is open five days a week. It provides three days of emergency food provisions for 800-1,000 families each month, 2,500-3,000 people.

Approximately 200 volunteers staff the pantry, stock the shelves, pack bags for distribution, accept deliveries, and clean the facilities. Volunteers come from local churches, the community, schools, autism support programs, and community service programs.

If you are interested in volunteering, please ask the church office to for a volunteer form.

The food pantry receives purchases food from the Food Bank of Delaware. It is also a licensed USDA distributor. 

We also welcome food donations from the community. Schools, apartment buildings, neighborhood associations and businesses have been a tremendous source of food donations in 2020 when the demand for food increased because of business closings.

Donations are welcome anytime the pantry is open. We are generally looking for non-perishable food items. We also welcome donations of garden vegetables. All items are welcome, but feel free to contact the church office to see if there are any particular needs.