Inside the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, sits a pantry that has been helping families in need since the 1980s.
The pantry is called Skeet’s Pantry.
And every third Friday of each month pantry volunteers distribute food to families in Fellowship Hall inside the church that is located at 22 S. Main St. from 8-10:30 a.m.
“We are still looking for the basic staples that are usually needed each month. The staples include cereal family size if possible, butter, jelly, pasta, pasta sauce, canned soups, canned beans and canned fruit,” said Carol Kientz, co-coordinator of the pantry.
She said the major items she listed are ones the pantry needs a good supply of each month.
According to church officials, Waynatta “Skeet” Trowbridge founded Skeet’s Pantry in the 1980s. In World War II, she saw the effects of hunger during her time on a troop train. The train transported soldiers and their families from post to post without food or water.
After she settled down in Cranbury, she started to help others with food insecurity in the community. She would help people out of her own pocket.
The need for the pantry has grown since 2008.
“We definitely saw an increase in folks from 2008-15. After 2015 things started to even out and has been very stable since then. We nearly double the amount of families that visit us now from when we first started in the 1980s,” Kientz said.
The pantry helps about 70-75 families a month and has 65 families who come regularly.
She said she has been a coordinator for 12-13 years at the pantry. The pantry is staffed entirely of volunteers.
“We have about 15 volunteers, sometimes a few more or less. The age range varies but most are retired because it is during the day on a Friday. We also have volunteers come from the local companies,” Kientz said.
Distribution of food is always on the third Friday of each month except for the Holiday months of November and December.
“This pantry gives me and I think all of the volunteers much more than what we give out,” she said. “It is a wonderful feeling to know that families are coming to us with a need and that we can actually meet those needs. There are months where we think we are not going to have enough food and somehow food appears. Food shows up when we are the most in need. It is just an amazing process.”
She said it has been a community effort to keep the shelves stocked at the pantry.
The pantry receives food from a variety of sources. The sources include families donating, congregation members donating, donations also come from Mercer Street Friends a food cooperative in Trenton, and Skeet’s receives fresh produce from Farmers Against Hunger food cooperative the Thursday before the monthly Friday.
“The families that come to see us help each other as well,” Kientz said. “They will help folks they know that are not doing well. If someone is not able to pick up the food they usually have a friend or neighbor that helps get the food for them. They are a real heartwarming group of folks.”
The pantry has helped not only people in Cranbury but also residents from Plainsboro, East Windsor, Hightstown, Trenton, Monroe Township and even from Edison.
“If somebody needs food enough to want to show up here, come and sit, wait for it and take whatever we can give them, they need it,” she said.
Kientz said she knows it is not easy for people to come to Skeet’s.
“They come because they need this food,” she said.
For more information about Skeet’s Pantry, contact First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury at 609-395-0897.
