Access oversees the Food Pantry Network of Kent County, a food referral system of 75 pantries designed to respond to those in need of food assistance.  Access also offers new pantry start-up help, food drive organization, food assistance, volunteer recruitment, computer maintenance, and the Holiday Giving Network. To learn more about the Pantry Network, take a look at the 2011 Pantry Network Report. If you would like to find the pantry nearest you, check out this listing.

PantryNet.org helps local food pantries and other grass-roots hunger organizations maximize their effectiveness by providing a free online forum for sharing information on a nation scale and creating a central information source for hunger agencies.

Pantry Resources

Pantry Training Video

Please take a look at our Pantry Training Video that was produced in 2010.  This video series was created by Access of West Michigan to train volunteers and staff who work or are involved in the Access Food Pantry Network in Kent County, Michigan. We hope that it will be helpful to food assistance organizations nation-wide.

The video is divided into ten sections, which can all be viewed here:  Pantry Training Video. Click on Uploads (11) on the right-hand side to view all sections of the Pantry Training Video.

Videos made by: Red and Black Productions, LLC. www.redandblackproduction.com

Food Pantry Service Policy Guideline

We are committed to help those in need of food assistance in our service area meet their needs on the basis of individual need and available resources, and to help them toward the greater goal of becoming self-supporting.

-Approved by Access Food Program Committee on June 6, 1997

Access Food Program Theological Statement

In as much as the common life of humanity is the life of a sojourner, the Access Food Pantry network seeks to share with other travelers the gift of hospitality. We count it a blessing of God that strangers stop to seek strength in food we might provide. As they seek sustenance, so shall we seek to provide the best of what we have, that our gifts might be worthy reflections of the gifts of God to us all. Even as gifts in our care are offered, so shall we seek the gifts of those to whom we offer hospitality, knowing that in the sojourner is the very presence of God. Above all, we gratefully acknowledge that in all things, all moments of life, we all receive from the One who is the True Giver of All Good Gifts.

-October, 1997