The Presbytery Care Closet provides invaluable support to local churches trying to provide food and other social services to the homeless and those who are less fortunate in their communities. The Presbytery Care Closet provides a venue where the various churches can meet, network and provide each other with support and ideas. It also empowers the local programs to act as a larger body in the role as an advocate for those in need, locally and on a national level.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia's Care Closets are an important way that people can share basic food stuffs with those for whom hunger is a daily reality. But in addition to food supplies, the Care Closets help local residents access a broard array of social support services and help with navigating the system.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia support food closets set up throughout the 5 county area including Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery County. This includes funding donations to the closets in the form of gift certificates to purchase food, supplying holiday meal packages at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and holding annual food drives during "Souper Bowl" Sunday. The Coordinator Schaunel Steinnagel does a great job of keeping the closets informed on matters which ultimately impact the clients we serve and is a voice to the larger Presbytery on advocacy issues such as creating a Mission Action Network which entitles the food closets to have a voice at meetings of the Presbytery.