LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
King George County Community Food Pantry
Who We Are and How the Pantry Works
Love Thy Neighbor Community Food Pantry was established in 2012 to provide nutritional basics and reassurance to others in need. Our first food pantry event was held in December, 2012. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in King George, Virginia.
Love Thy Neighbor provides a shopper’s choice food pantry, free of charge. Our focus is on food and hygiene items. Many of our guests are seniors, veterans, disabled, unemployed, or living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to make it work.
About half of our patrons live in King George county, and the rest drive in from nearby counties to shop with us. Everyone is welcome! In addition, we share information and resources to help guide our neighbors in the right direction for particular services they may need. We serve about 300 families each week (as of 2024).
We rely on faithful volunteers to make it all happen. We are Neighbors helping Neighbors! Our team is made up of dedicated volunteers with diverse cultural and denominational backgrounds. Some help every week while others help when they are able. If you are interested, please sign up to Volunteer! Thank you for all your generosity and faithfulness!
How the Pantry Works
Love Thy Neighbor is a ‘patron-choice’ food pantry, which allows families and individuals to shop in an attractive setting organized similar to a grocery store. A wide range of breakfast items, canned goods (tuna, chicken, vegetables, fruit, soup), peanut butter and jelly, boxed pasta meals, spaghetti sauce with pasta, produce, bread, frozen meat, and on occasion refrigerated foods are offered at no cost to patrons. Hygiene items like soap, shampoo, and toothpaste are sometimes available. Our ‘patron-choice’ pantry upholds the dignity of the families and individuals we serve. The advantages of a ‘patrons-choice’ pantry are:
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A sense of self-esteem for patrons and their families
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Higher patron satisfaction with food they are able to choose
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Less waste and, therefore, less cost in providing food to patrons
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Greater opportunities for positive and supportive social interaction between LTN volunteers and patrons
Even so, a lot of what we give away is the “leftovers” – produce and meat that have not sold in a grocery store, and so have been donated to us. Sometimes the quality is good, sometimes not. We would like to do better; we would like to consistently offer high quality products to our patrons, giving them better and healthier choices, instead of forcing them to take someone else’s leavings. You can help by making a donation.
