Hillside Community Pantry (sample) gives food parcels, a warm room and a weekly visit to anyone in Springfield who needs them. Every gift on the ladder is spent here, this winter.
Winter appeal runs until 28 February (sample).
Heats the warm space for a week, lights and soup included
Trains and checks two volunteers for neighbour visits
A month of snacks and books for one homework club table
One family’s food parcel for a week
Tea and toast for ten visitors at the warm space
What one gift pays for, from last winter’s costs (sample).
Everything is free to the people who use it and open to anyone who lives nearby. Each row shows one rung of the ladder: what a gift pays for there.
Three days of food, chosen with you from our shelves, plus toiletries and fresh bread on Saturdays.
$25 is one family’s parcel for a week
Mon–Sat 10:00–13:00
The Old Chapel
A heated room with hot drinks, soup at lunchtime, newspapers and phone charging. Nobody asks why you came.
$10 is tea and toast for ten visitors
Tue and Thu 12:00–17:00
Church hall
Quiet tables, volunteer helpers and a snack for pupils aged 8 to 16 who need a calm place to work.
$50 is a month of snacks and books for one table
Wed 15:30–17:30
Library annexe
A trained volunteer calls in once a week for tea and a chat with an older neighbour who lives alone.
$100 trains and checks two visiting volunteers
Weekly, at home
Across Hillside
Our shelves change every day. These are the things we are short of now; please bring them before anything else.
Drop food at the pantry door, Monday to Saturday 09:30–13:00, or in the blue crate at Orchard Road library (sample).
Tinned fish and meat
Running low
UHT milk
Running low
Rice, 1 kg bags
Running low
Toothpaste and deodorant
Running low
Pasta
Well stocked
Tinned soup
Well stocked
It takes about twenty minutes and you do not need a referral the first time. Come as you are; we will not ask you to prove anything at the door.
1
Drop in, call (555) 014-2200 or ask your doctor, school or support worker to refer you. Any of these works.
2
A volunteer sits down with you, asks about allergies and who is at home, and shows you what is on the shelves.
3
Choose your food and toiletries. If you would like, we can also book you in with free money advice.
Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 10:00–13:00 (sample).
Ninety volunteers keep the pantry open (sample). Choose a regular shift or join the Saturday rota once a month.
Mon–Fri 09:30–12:30
Check dates, sort donations onto the shelves, pack parcels.
Sat 09:30–13:30
Welcome visitors and help them choose from the shelves.
Tue and Fri mornings
Collect from supermarkets and drop parcels at home. A clean licence is all you need.
Tue and Thu 12:00–17:00
Make tea, serve soup and keep the conversation going.
From last year’s accounts (sample). Food donations cover about two thirds of what we hand out; gifts buy the rest and keep the doors open.
$41
Food we buy when donations run short
$19
Rent, heating and lighting for the chapel and hall
$14
Warm space and soup lunches
$11
Homework club and neighbour visits
$7
Volunteer training and background checks
$5
Raising the next $100
$3
Insurance, accounts and running the charity
I came in for a parcel the winter I lost my job. Two years on I run the Saturday counter, and I still remember who made me a cup of tea that first morning.
Sample volunteer, Saturday counter team
A regular gift lets us plan the shelves months ahead. $12 a month is a family’s parcel.
Run a collection at work, school or church. We lend crates and a list of what we need.
Our winter appeal is open until the end of February. Here is exactly what each gift pays for (sample).
The shelves that empty first this month, and where to drop food (sample).
Fresh bread arrives at nine, the doors open at ten. What a Saturday shift looks like (sample).
The Old Chapel
22 Orchard Road, Springfield (sample)
Food pantry
Mon–Sat 10:00–13:00
Warm space
Tue and Thu 12:00–17:00
Homework club
Library annexe, Elm Row
Wed 15:30–17:30
Food drop-off
Mon–Sat 09:30–13:00
Office and phone line
Mon–Fri 09:00–16:00
