Catholic Charities of Buffalo today celebrated the opening of a new location for its Lovejoy Food Pantry. Now located at 118 Schiller St., Buffalo, the Lovejoy Food Pantry relocated across the parking lot from its former location at 139 North Ogden St. to provide an updated and accessible space to better meet the needs of individuals and families in the community experiencing food insecurity.
“We serve more than 2,500 households annually at our Lovejoy Food Pantry and a more efficient space was needed with both the pantry itself and food storage all located on one-level,” said Julie Lulek, senior director, Catholic Charities. “This new location provides a welcoming environment for our staff and volunteers to serve our neighbors with their dietary needs.”
In this new space, Catholic Charities has a designated welcome area for clients and a covered service area for supplemental distributions versus having outdoor distributions in all types of weather. Catholic Charities is also now able to offer more client choice, whether meeting special diet needs or offering culturally appropriate foods. Catholic Charities’ Lovejoy Food Pantry is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Catholic Charities has had a longstanding presence in the Lovejoy neighborhood, with a pantry in operation since 1990.
The Lovejoy Food Pantry is one of nine Catholic Charities’ pantry and outreach centers in Western New York with seven pantries in Erie County, as well as a pantry located in both Wellsville and Franklinville. Each pantry has emergency food and offers information and referrals. Trained volunteers assess and help those in need through these centers.
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- Catholic Charities staff, Kelly Burke of FeedMore, and Fr. Cole Webster pose outside the pantry.
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- Fr. Cole Webster, pastor at St. Katharine Drexel, blesses the new pantry space.
