Phoenixville Area Community Services Inc (PACS)

Phoenixville Area Community Services (PACS) aspires to be the lead resource for food insecurity in the community. Since 1972 PACS has helped people in the Phoenixville area get through difficult or challenging periods in their lives by providing emergency assistance through our food distribution and information and referral services. For 50 years, people in the Phoenixville area have known that if they need help, they can visit PACS to receive healthy, nutritious food while being treated with dignity and respect. We have worked to be a model of community feeding community by collaborating with other area food pantries and meal providers to create a food secure community. In addition to food distribution, PACS has helped many community members get back on their feet by providing access to other resources through our information and referral services.

A typical monthly restock of our pantry used to cost only $2,700, but as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the need among our neighbors for healthy, nutritious food has increased significantly, and we now spend $11,250 each month. For this year's A Community Thrives (ACT) challenge, our goal is to raise $6,000, which -- in addition to making us eligible for grant funding from ACT -- will cover two weeks of restocking our pantry. These funds will allow us to purchase some of the most-needed food items like meat, milk, butter, spices, condiments, bottled water, cheese, juice, coffee, sugar, salad dressing, canned vegetables, and nondairy milk, as well as non-food items like diapers, deodorant, baby wipes, laundry detergent, shampoo, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies.