Whittier : Food Bank Finds Home

The city’s only food pantry for the poor, the Ecumenical Food Center, has found a new home at Revival Tabernacle Church, 10638 Mina Drive, on the city’s south side.

The food distribution program, which serves meals to about 700 poor and homeless people each week, was asked last fall to move from St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Uptown Village after several church members complained about loitering. Food center director Sue Schoensiegel said it took seven months to find another church that would accept her meal program.

While grateful for the new quarters at Revival Tabernacle, Schoensiegel has expressed concern that many of those who rely on the food center will not be able to reach the church. She hoped to keep the food center in the Uptown area where many of the elderly and poor in the city are concentrated. The new location is about three miles from St. Matthias.

The center is operated by the Whittier Area Ecumenical Council of Churches--20 churches and one synagogue--with some support from the city and civic clubs. The center will donate $500 a month to Revival Tabernacle Church.