Subject Matter Experts

Interested in changing some of your pantry processes and don’t know where to start? Use the categories below to identify some of our partners that have already made the change!

They’ll be able to provide you with pros, cons, and things they might have done differently. Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel when there are so many others around East Texas that are willing to help. They’d love to hear from you!

Healthy Pantry

Pantry: Community Food Pantry in Tool
Location: Tool – Henderson County
Contact: Vicki Dumont – Director
Phone: 903-821-4779
Email: vjfoodpantry@gmail.com
The Community Food Pantry of Tool began its mission in 1983. We are open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Our clients are offered the chance to shop in our Healthy Pantry Marketplace in order to make their own selections of a variety of proteins, canned goods, fresh produce and bread.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
Our Healthy Client Choice Pantry is open every Thursday from 9-11 am and 4:30-6 pm. We offer a large selection of items that benefit our clients who are concerned with making dietary choices that will help them improve their overall health. These selections are low fat, low salt and low sugar items. Clients are able to choose the items that their families prefer instead of receiving items that they will not eat.

Pantry: Nacogdoches HOPE
Location: Nacogdoches – Nacogdoches County
Contact: Deidre Harrison – Director
Phone: 936-559-1801
Nacogdoches Hope is a Healthy Pantry with items tagged F2E (Foods to Encourage) and offering Choice for clients to make their own selections. The clients walk through the line and pick out what they want to eat.

Retail Store Program

Pantry: David Powell Food Pantry
Location: Lindale – Smith County
Contact: Roger Dennison
Email: roger.c.dennison@gmail.com
Dr. David Powell Community Food Pantry is open mornings on the first and third Tuesday and on the Wednesday that follows, and on second and fourth Tuesday evenings. They have enjoyed a great deal of success with the Retail Store Model and have a good pattern of distributing excess Retail Store food in the support of other local Pantry Partners.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
We have a Retail Store Partnership through ETFB where we can obtain lunchmeat, yogurts, milk, cookies, eggs, snacks and frozen foods. These items are given to our clients weekly and everyone is always excited to have some extra to take home with them.

Pantry: Mission Carthage
Location: Carthage – Panola County
Contact: Jennifer Randall – Executive Director
Phone: 903-693-4402
Email: jennifer@missioncarthage.com
Mission Carthage picks up at Retail Store every day of the week and the products include milk, Juice, produce, bread and a plethora of other items that are all given out weekly to clients.

Intake Procedures

Pantry: Community Food Pantry in Tool
Location: Tool – Henderson County
Contact: Vicki Dumont – Director
Phone: 903-821-4779
Email: vjfoodpantry@gmail.com
Here at Tool, Each family has different needs so our Volunteers work to be flexible and respectful while assisting each client. Our staff is trained to quickly validate necessary information during the intake process while offering additional services such as SNAP, TANF, and Medicare assistance via appointments made for each of the days open.

Pantry: Longview Dream Center
Location: Longview – Gregg County
Contact: Shonna Barlow or Vicki Zahn
Phone: Shonna: 903-821-4779, Vicki: 903-746-9946
The Longview Dream Center’s mission is to provide basic humanitarian needs, resources and life-enhancing programs to the people of Longview and the greater East Texas region. Our vision is to provide free food and clothing to anyone in need throughout Longview, Texas, and the surrounding area. The LDC provides hunger relief, senior boxes, fresh produce, and free clothing to those in need or a crisis.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
In order to qualify for food at the Malakoff Food Pantry we ask that an Intake Form be completed. In accordance with USDA regulations, no documentation is required which makes check-in quick and efficient. After completing the form, client information is entered into the computer and a client card is issued. This client card will be used monthly for the next year for check-in. We also take the time to visit with our clients to see if there are other needs they may have that we can assist them with or direct them to another organization that can hopefully provide the answer.

Fundraising

Pantry: Mission Marshall
Location: Marshall – Harrison County
Contact: Misty Scott – Executive Director
Phone: 903-472-4944
Mission Marshall, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, seeks to be a catalyst for community transformation in Marshall and throughout East Texas. We provide tools to the under-resourced in our community through strengthening the family, economic empowerment, and children’s reading enhancement.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
Faith in Action has been very successful in their Fundraising Endeavors. Please call or email Grace and let her help you with Ideas and proven statistics of their successes. Faith In Action is supported by five local churches in our area. We also receive support from local residents, which is the majority of the support we receive. In the past, we held a garage sale and had a yearly car show.

Pantry: Rusk Cares Good Samaritan
Location: Rusk – Cherokee County
Contact: Mona Burford
Phone: 512-529-1227
Email: burford.mona@yahoo.com
Mona has extensive experience in fundraising and grant writing. She has grown the program in Rusk and is very passionate about what she does.

Client Choice Distribution

Pantry: Longview Dream Center
Location: Longview – Gregg County
Contact: Shonna Barlow or Vicki Zahn
Phone: Shonna: 903-821-4779, Vicki: 903-746-9946
The Longview Dream Center’s mission is to provide basic humanitarian needs, resources and life-enhancing programs to the people of Longview and the greater East Texas region. Our vision is to provide free food and clothing to anyone in need throughout Longview, Texas, and the surrounding area. The LDC provides hunger relief, senior boxes, fresh produce, and free clothing to those in need or a crisis.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
Our Healthy Client Choice Pantry is open every Thursday from 9-11 am and 4:30-6 pm. We offer a large selection of items that benefit our clients who are concerned with making dietary choices that will help them improve their overall health. These selections are low fat, low salt and low sugar items. Clients are able to choose the items that their families prefer instead of receiving items that they will not eat. We always try to take the time to visit with our clients and help them make the best selections of healthy foods they need.

Pantry: Nacogdoches HOPE
Location: Nacogdoches – Nacogdoches County
Contact: Deidre Harrison – Director
Phone: 936-559-1801
Nacogdoches HOPE, Deidra Harrison ED djlharrison@yahoo.com Nacogdoches H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Eat) is a pantry of choice for clients residing in Nacogdoches County. HOPE is open every Monday and Thursday from 9:00-11:30 am and the second and fourth Tuesday from 5:00-7:00 pm.

H.O.P.E clients are able to come into the pantry to choose the foods they want. Foods include meats, canned vegetables and soups, rice, beans, cereals, box mixes, fresh produce, breads, desserts, and a variety of other food items. Volunteers assist clients inside and outside the pantry.

Home Delivery

Pantry: Rains County Good Samaritan
Location: Emory – Rains County
Contact: Robert Burns
Phone: 903-348-1283
Rains County Good Samaritans (RCGS) was established in 1987 by several Rains County churches to provide food for families in need in Rains County. Today, 35 years later, RCGS has still maintained the support of local churches, individuals, businesses, schools, local government, and our many faithful volunteers. RCGS not only provides our local families with food (from the East Texas Food Bank), but we also provide backpack buddies, senior boxes, home deliveries, clothes, SNAP assistance, utility assistance, as well as any other situation that may present itself.

Pantry: God’s Closet
Location: Pittsburg – Camp County
Contact: Alethea Smerdon
Phone: 903-253-8558
Alethea Smerdon is the Executive Director of God’s Closet in Pittsburg. We are a non-profit food pantry that exists to stamp out hunger and feed hope in our area. We run a home delivery service for shut-ins (seniors and disabled clients) along with many other programs and we love to help other pantries in any way we can. You are welcome to come for a tour or call us!

Pantry: New Jerusalem-Bread of Heaven
Location: Tyler – Smith County
Contact: Celestine Foreman
Phone: 903-705-9320
Email: mforeman129@yahoo.com
New Jerusalem delivers food to clients that are shut-in, or do not have an available proxy to pick up food in their stead.

Drive-Thru Distribution

Pantry: Freedom Church of God
Location: Emory – Rains County
Contact: Ulonda Hamil
Phone: 972-824-6549
Freedom Church of God is a small church with a big vision that fulfills the scripture where Jesus said “feed my sheep.”
We love people and provide food to families in need on the third Friday of each month.

Pantry: United Help of Waskom
Location: Waskom – Harrison County
Contact: Anita Nolan
Phone: 903-736-5196
United Help of Waskom is comprised of volunteers from many local churches, businesses and individuals who chose to be proactive to end hunger. We have many clients who have limited mobility so we felt that the only way to successfully help them is to provide a drive-thru food distribution. Luckily, our distribution center is located on a corner lot, allowing us to install a rock driveway to allow for the smooth entrance and exit of the property.

Pantry: Saint Charles Borromeo Food Pantry
Location: Frankston – Anderson County
Contact: Mary Ann Cluley
Phone: 940-257-8141
Offers a drive-through model for clients to get their food. The volunteers arrive early to set cones up for safety before distribution begins. The volunteers walk down the line with clipboards assisting the clients. At the end of the drive-through, the clients receive produce and food.

Pantry: Sacred Heart Food Pantry
Location: Nacogdoches – Nacogdoches County
Contact: Cynthia Davis – Director
Phone: 512-461-0096
Email: davis.cynthia.s@gmail.com
We are a choice pantry open on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday and 4th Saturday of each month from 9:00 – 11:30. Our biggest challenge is our physical location. We are down a steep driveway, with no parking near our building. So clients walk down, check-in, and select their food, It is loaded into a tub. A ticket is taped to the tub and a stub of the ticket is given to the client. They return to their cars and drive down, give a volunteer their ticket stub and their food is loaded into their cars. We have volunteers who come early to set up cones and signs to direct traffic.

Produce Drops

Pantry: Flower Acres (Bread of Life Food Pantry)
Location: Texarkana – Bowie County
Contact: Tyler Reed
Phone: 870-796-1434
The Bread of Life food pantry (FABC), was started in 2003. We offer produce every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. We also do a food box once a month, for those who call in to be put on the list. We do emergency food boxes as well. Our goal and mission is to feed people as well as tell them about Jesus.

Pantry: First Resource Center
Location: Palestine – Anderson County
Contact: Blinda Craig – Director
Phone: 972-814-6772
People start lining up early to get free Produce to supplement their Groceries each month. They make good use of their early morning delivery slot. This helps single parents go thru the line before they go to work.

Pantry: Mission Carthage
Location: Carthage – Panola County
Contact: Jennifer Randall – Executive Director
Phone: 903-693-4402
Email: jennifer@missioncarthage.com
Mission Carthage offers a Produce Drop on the 1st Wednesday of every month. Clients should arrive by 9:00am and drive through the line to be served. They make good use of the Ballpark space where they set up and give out Healthy Produce.

Offering Additional Services

Pantry: Longview Community Ministries
Location: Longview – Gregg County
Contact: Kristi Buckrell
Phone: 903-753-3561 x202
Longview Community Ministries (LCM) was established more than 35 years ago to enable Longview congregations and groups to work together more effectively in the community through cooperative acts of service to assist persons in need. LCM offers a variety of programs to help Longview Residents.

Pantry: HOPE Inc.
Location: Jacksonville – Cherokee County
Contact: Ellann Johnson – Director
Phone: 903-284-4000
Hope Provides in Addition to Pantry and Onsite A Health, Wellness, & Resource Center. They offer Primary Care, Mental & Behavioral Health, Dental & Vision, Education, Nutrition, Transportation

On-site Meals

Pantry: Newgate Mission
Location: Longview – Gregg County
Contact: Natusha Howard
Phone: 903-757-6146
Open to all, Newgate is a day mission where faith, dedication, and purpose come together to create a safe, Christ-centered community filled with compassion, hope, and renewed dignity. Each year, Newgate Mission provides hope in the form of life-changing services, including 82,000 meals, housing assistance, a community, job readiness, health and hygiene, life’s essentials, and transportation.

Pantry: Mission Texarkana
Location: Texarkana – Bowie County
Contact: Cody Howard
Phone: 903-792-1301
“Mission Texarkana consists of a community of individuals who have a great passion for the holistic restoration of people and their communities. We strive to provide for the most basic needs of those living on the streets of Texarkana, including hot meals and food items that we share together with joy.”

Pantry: HOPE Inc.
Location: Jacksonville – Cherokee County
Contact: Ellann Johnson – Director
Phone: 903-284-4000
Onsite soup kitchen Mon – Thurs 11:15 – 12:15 serves a hot meal to anyone hungry they can pick up an Entree or have a hot healthy meal in the Kitchen of H.O.P.E. to anyone who walks in the door.

Volunteer Management

Pantry: Freedom Church of God
Location: Emory – Rains County
Contact: Ulonda Hamil
Phone: 972-824-6549
Freedom Church of God is a small church with a big vision that fulfills the scripture where Jesus said “feed my sheep.”
We love people and provide food to families in need on the third Friday of each month.

Pantry: Mission Marshall
Location: Marshall – Harrison County
Contact: Misty Scott – Executive Director
Phone: 903-472-4944
Mission Marshall, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, seeks to be a catalyst for community transformation in Marshall and throughout East Texas. We provide tools to the under-resourced in our community through strengthening the family, economic empowerment, and children’s reading enhancement.

Pantry: Faith in Action Outreach
Location: Malakoff – Henderson County
Contact: Grace Nakamura – Director
Phone: 903-288-9011
Email: info@fiaoutreach.org
Faith in Action has a good group of Volunteers For our Thursday’s distribution we utilize 16 volunteers in the am and pm shift. Some of these same volunteers also come and volunteer for several different areas throughout the week. On Thursday it is check-in, client relations, food area, carry out and clothes closet. During the week we utilize our volunteer base for office work, cleaning, food receiving and stalking of shelfs, organization of food items received and the clothes closet goes through donations and prepares for distribution.

Facebook Utilization

Pantry: Titus County Cares
Location: Mt. Pleasant – Titus County Cares
Contact: Kim Hedges
Phone: 903-573-6837
Titus County Cares was formed in May of 2005 because of a group of pastors, the Ministerial Alliance, who met monthly. They were seeking a new way to expand the board and increase the help given to residents of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Titus County.

Pantry: First Resource Center
Location: Palestine – Anderson County
Contact: Blinda Craig – Director
Phone: 972-814-6772
First Resource uses its Facebook Page to Announce their Produce and Pantry Distribution, Days and hours they are open and any other news to help their clients receive more food .

Website Design

Pantry: Titus County Cares
Location: Mt. Pleasant – Titus County Cares
Contact: Kim Hedges
Phone: 903-573-6837
Titus County Cares was formed in May of 2005 because of a group of pastors, the Ministerial Alliance, who met monthly. They were seeking a new way to expand the board and increase the help given to residents of Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Titus County.

Pantry: HOPE Inc.
Location: Jacksonville – Cherokee County
Contact: Ellann Johnson – Director
Phone: 903-284-4000
Onsite soup kitchen Mon – Thurs 11:15 – 12:15 serves a hot meal to anyone hungry they can pick up an Entree or have a hot healthy meal in the Kitchen of H.O.P.E. to anyone who walks in the door.