Prince of Peace Episcopal Church

In 1975, the West Valley Food Pantry began as a small food closet operated by the Prince of Peace Episcopal Church. The Rector, Prince of Peace parishioners and Prince of Peace Administrator Margaret Shively, worked together to maintain the food closet and provided food for three to five families a week over the course of several years.

​

In 1985, members of Prince of Peace developed the idea of collaborating with other churches and synagogues in the West Valley to make an even greater impact. Ten other churches and synagogues came together to form a coalition, now known as the West Valley Food Pantry.

 

The West Valley Food Pantry moved their operations into the church's kitchen.  This larger area provided the pantry room to grow and serve more families.  The Pantry purchased additional refrigerators and freezers to handle food donations coming from local merchants and the government.  

​

In 2010, with the help of several new storage trailers located in the main church parking lot, the West Valley Food Pantry grew to serve more than 100 families a week.  The annual West San Fernando Valley US Postal service food ingathering quickly filled these new storage units.

​

In 2020, the pandemic resulted in a major change to the West Valley Food Pantry operations.  The Pantry needed to shift their operations from a walk up service to 100 families a week to a drive through service serving 700 or more families a week.  Prince of Peace church stepped in to make the entire Taylor Hall building and the main parking lot available for the Pantry's operations. The pantry went from handling cases of food to handling pallets of food within this space.  Following the easing of the pandemic restrictions, the Pantry continues to serve more than 4000 families each month.

​

Today the West Valley Food Pantry is one of the largest in Los Angeles.  Using a Federal grant and generous donations, the Pantry was able to build a new facility, the West Valley Food Pantry, Prince of Peace Community Center, on the north-east corner of the church property.  This new building will further enhance the Pantry's ability to serve the local community and provide offices for additional community services.