The Wallkill Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry is unlike many other food pantries, as it has changed to “full client choice.”

Full client choice means that no family leaves with any food they did not choose to take home. In order to qualify for a state grant, food pantries have to pre pack bags of food based on guidelines and hand those bags to families in need. When a client enters the Wallkill food pantry they are given a menu of items they can choose from. Unlike many food pantries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wallkill food pantry allows clients in their building where they can choose their own food.

“The big deal is that clients are totally empowered,” said Donna Ewing, the food pantry’s coordinator. “It’s like going to a grocery store. You look at what’s available and pick what you need.”

Ewing came up with the idea for full client choice. She noted that the food pantry has distributed food in this manner for about a year. This option was adopted because it eliminates waste and saves money as well as labor.

Ewing added that full client choice has garnered rave reviews from clients. Now more than ever, it is important for the food pantry to have happy clients, as they have seen a large uptick in customers over the past year. In February 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pantry served 176 households. At the height of the pandemic they served 366 households. Now that the state of the national health crisis has improved, the food pantry serves about 250 families a month.

Allotments provided by the food pantry are flexible. They take family sizes into consideration and allow clients to take additional food for special occasions. Recently, the pantry has received more Spanish-speaking clients, so they have included the Spanish translation of foods on their menu.

The food pantry is open to all in the Wallkill Central School District that need food assistance. The pantry provides balanced meals, fresh produce, milk as well as meats. They are open from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday. The food pantry is located at 45 Bridge St., Wallkill, behind the Wallkill Reformed Church.

“Whatever we can do for the clients is what we do,” Ewing said.