Food Bank Serves Side of Saucon Valley Some Forget Exists

Written by Tom Coombe

On a wall at the New Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church's food pantry you'll find a white board filled with numbers.

Each of those numbers is a person from the Saucon Valley area who doesn't have enough to eat. 

And in the last two years, that number has been growing, says Pastor Tricia McMackin, who has overseen the Lower Saucon Township church—and with it, the food pantry—for the last 16 years.

"Every month we have new clients signed up," McMackin said recently in an interview at the church. Although it's based out of New Jerusalem's Apples Church Road building, the food bank is a group effort, encompassing several different Hellertown area churches and community groups.

It used to service anyone in the 18015 and 18055 zipcodes, meaning people from South Bethlehem and other nearby municipalities could come to get food. 

But as the city's population grew, the situation became untenable, McMackin said. Now, the pantry is open to anyone who lives in the Saucon Valley School District.

Even without Bethlehem in the mix, there's still more than enough demand, with 700 clients currently signed up.

And it's not just that there are new clients. It's that there are new types of clients. 

Years ago, the pantry's clientele was primarily families with small children. Now, there are a lot more senior citizens who can't make it solely on retirement income. 

There are more people who, a few years ago, would have been termed middle class. Not all of them are long-term, McMackin said.

"We have people coming in and saying 'I lost my job,' or 'My husband lost his job, and we really need help getting through the gap.'" 

But there are also clients who are clearly struggling. McMackin sees how much they earn when they fill out income statements.

"I'm amazed at how people are managing to live on very small incomes these days," she said.

The food pantry gets help from a lot of other sources. The local Giant supermarket donates fresh bread and pastries. Saucon Valley's band holds its own fundraisers. And local Girl Scout and Brownie troops put together "party bags" filled with cake mix and frosting, so families can hold birthday parties for their kids.

The pantry represents a side of the Saucon Valley residents might forget exists.

"There's a lot of wealth here," McMackin said. "People forget we have people who are on the fringe."

The food pantry is open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the third and fourth Saturdays of each month.

If you'd like to make donations, the best time to drop them off is either during those hours, or between 7 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. weekdays.

If you're interested in volunteering, call the church at (610) 838-0731.