What's the difference between a food bank, a food pantry and a soup kitchen?

St Andrew's food cupboard is local food pantry. Food pantries are on the "front lines" of food distribution directly to residents of the area. "Food Cupboard" is another popular term in some parts of the country for the services provided. Pantries help distribute groceries to families so they can prepare food at home. This allows pantries to provide several days of food to families in need.

Soup kitchens prepare and serve meals to the hungry. These operations were called "soup kitchens" because historically charities provided mostly soup and bread - Water could always be added to soup to serve more people if needed. Today volunteer organizations usually provide more than soup so they are more commonly known as meal centers, or food kitchens . A good example of a food kitchen in Rochester is A Meal & More . Food pantries and food kitchens commonly depend on food banks for much of their supplies.

St. Andrew's receives some direct food donations from several sources. While some comes from individuals and businesses, a large portion comes from our regional food banks. Food Banks mostly receive food donations from businesses and campaigns. They can receive and store food on a large scale, in a central location, which makes distribution to other organizations more efficient. Foodlink, in Rochester, is a regional food bank that supplies many services like food pantries and soup kitchens in the area. St Andrew's volunteers make regular trips to Foodlink to supply the cupboard.