MEND's Gleaning Coordinator Orlando Pacheco Vazquez and Food Access Coordinator Alana Springer pose with some of the whole chickens the Cupboard stocks in November. Chickens, stuffing and canned pumpkin are some of the holiday foods the Cupboard purchases for shoppers during the holiday season.
The first week of every month at the Community Cupboard is always busy, when households that shop at the food pantry get 150 points they can use toward food for the month. The first week of November, there’s an additional flurry of activity at the Cupboard, as staff and volunteers put out holiday food.
Unlike many food pantries, the Cupboard has a purchasing budget that is used to stock about 30 of the most in-demand items, including milk, masa and diapers. During November and December, they also buy about 15 additional holiday items, like stuffing and turkeys or hams.
The flurry at the Cupboard isn’t limited to just stocking. Each year, the Cupboard serves about 150 more households in November than the year prior—a trend that has repeated over the last five years. Last year, 750 households shopped at the Cupboard in November; this year, Cupboard staff are preparing for around 900.
“That’s a huge increase in demand,” says MEND Food Access Coordinator Alana Springer.
To meet that demand, the Cupboard has been making changes to better serve its shoppers in a number of ways.
To stretch the budget further, Alana did an extensive deep dive over the last six months into how much the Cupboard has been spending on its staple items. She compared prices per item or per pound across multiple suppliers, switching up where items were purchased if the cost difference was significant enough.
Food Access Coordinator Alana Springer did cost comparisons of the staple items the Cupboard buys, switching suppliers when necessary to save money. Above is a sample of some of the savings she found.
Thanks to that savings, the Cupboard has been able to diversify some of its offerings.
“We started offering almond milk because we have room in the budget for it now,” says Alana.
Increasing the offerings for people with dietary restrictions is something Alana wishes they could do more of and is working toward over time. She considers it a way to meet each need with dignity.
“I want to be able to offer not one but many foods for people who need specialty items,” she says. “It’s just so hard when there are certain things you can’t eat.”
Another aspect of meeting each need with dignity, says Alana, is making sure people have culturally relevant foods. The Cupboard has seen an influx of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants, and Alana has been asking them what kinds of foods they’d like to have available. So far, she’s been able to stock borscht packets and toasted buckwheat.
Streamlining operations to provide better service
Alana has also worked to reduce the amount of time she and other staff are taking to pick up food. This means combining trips, making larger orders so they need to be picked up less often, and otherwise minimizing the amount of time spent picking up food as much as possible. As a result, Alana says, staff can spend more time interacting with shoppers and making sure their experience at the Cupboard is the best it can be.
As part of the improvement plan, the Cupboard has also decided to prioritize having more staff on site during the holidays to help ensure shoppers are getting what they need and things are flowing as smoothly as possible. As a result, Orlando Pacheco Vazquez, MEND’s Gleaning Coordinator for 2026, will transition from gleaning to helping part-time at the Cupboard during the holiday season.
The holiday season is also a busy season for community food drives on behalf of the Cupboard. Over the past year, MEND staff have created a system for food drives that makes the process easier for both the community groups who put them on and Cupboard staff and volunteers. By letting Food Programs Manager Rachel Bishop know when the food will be delivered, groups can ensure there are people ready to receive it when the food comes in. This helps make sure the donations are put out on the shelves as soon as possible.
“We’re so grateful for the food drives,” says Alana. “They make the variety of food available to shoppers increase exponentially.”
Overall, says Alana, she’s excited about the holidays. She considers it a time to make sure people feel cared for and seen. She appreciates the ability to show that through her job.
“I want people to be happy and healthy,” she says. “And to have full bellies.”