CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The Maranatha Food Pantry in Chambersburg underwent "The Great Pantry Makeover" from Food Lion on Wednesday.
The business contributed volunteer labor and $6,000 worth of food, supplies and cash to the food pantry, which replaced its flooring, installed a mop sink and enclosed a freezer though the project.
Maranatha Executive Director Craig Newcomer said it will be much easier to clean the linoleum floor than the wood it replaced.
"We've never had the resources and money to put a floor like this in," he said.
Newcomer's mother, Natalie Newcomer, started the food pantry in 1993. It since has outgrown anything she imagined.
"We can't out-give God," she said, noting she believes that God keeps providing supplies.
Open Tuesdays and Thursdays the first three weeks of each month, the pantry provides 20,000 pounds of food per month to 450 to 600 families.
Food Lion set a goal to provide 500 million meals between 2015 and 2020 in the 10 states it has stores. Part of the initiative was deemed "The Great Pantry Makeover."
"We identified five years ago we have a tremendous need in our communities to feed those who are less fortunate," said Eric Sword, Food Lion's director of operations.
Eight volunteers from the Mercersburg, Pa., grocery store and Greencastle, Pa., distribution center joined workers from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank on Wednesday to upgrade the Chambersburg pantry.
Andrew Pensinger of Chambersburg volunteered on his day off from the distribution center.
"I thought I'd give back to the community," he said.
Ashley August lives in Mercersburg and works at Food Lion there. She was impressed by the Loudon Street food pantry's staff and board members, particularly Manager Jerome Spriggs.
"He just has that passion. You can tell he really cares," she said.
