60-year-old food pantry being forced out of current Hemet location – NBC Los Angeles

Organizers and volunteers with a food pantry that has been providing food to Inland Empire families in need for nearly six decades are hoping for a miracle.

The Valley Community Pantry was notified this month to vacate the Trinity Lutheran Church after using a space from the church property for the past 10 years as the building has been sold to a new owner. 

While volunteers at the longest-running food pantry in Hemet may not know whether there will be a new home, they continued to pack up the final batch of boxes and bags of food on Friday.

“It’s going to be an eye-opener for many people,” said Jim Lineberger, who has been running the Valley Community Pantry from the Trinity Lutheran Church location on Colombia Street near Highway 74 and offering a helping hand to thousands of families for the past decade.

“We have to be vacated by Oct. 31 because the new church is moving in, and they have a different mission than we do,” Lineberger said.

The Valley Community Pantry was gearing up for a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, but the plan is not on pause until the organization can find a new home. 

Lineberger said the closure of the 5,500 square-foot facility will be heartbreaking as it provides a lifeline for over 13,000 families every year.

“An average income from homeless to working poor is $13,700 – almost half of the poverty level. We are dealing with extreme poverty-level people,” Lineberger explained. 

Shelby Handy, a Hemet resident, said because her family does not get food stamps, the food from the pantry is a life saver. 

“It’s helped our family. It’s a make or break if we eat sometimes,” she said.

Deaconess Cheryl Holmes of San Jacinto said, with everything being expensive, she relies on free food from the pantry.

“I’m here for my electricity and gas, and I’m need of food. I got hungry bodies at home,” she explained. 

Lineberger said while his organization has received information about vacant spaces, property owners did not seem to understand that food pantries cannot afford rent.

“We have never paid rent, not because we try to take advantage of people. We just have never had money to do it,” he said.

The nonprofit, which will be celebrating 60 years in the community, has had a bumpy ride over the years, but small miracles along the way helped it get to the next step. The group is now praying for the next one.