The food pantry at Christ Our Savior occupies a small, brightly lit space in the parish's basement. Lately, the pantry has been busier than ever before.

Since the closure of St. Lucy's pantry in Campbell in 2023, many families turned to Christ Our Savior for help. Despite getting help from local markets, volunteers at the pantry  told 21 News that it has been a struggle for them to serve that many people weekly.

"When we started out, we would have between 25 and 35 people for a week, and right now, we're up to over 125 to 150 people when we're open," Joann Burgmyer, director Of Christ Our Savior food pantry said. 

In 2022 the food pantry saw 472 families with children, this year they've seen 929. Due to the surge in visitors, the pantry's doors are now open only twice a month.

"It doesn't do us any good to open every week if we have no food. It's been a real challenge for us, and it was a struggle for us to decide to [reduce hours of operation]," Paul Brenner, Executive assistant of Christ Our Savior food pantry said." 

But despite the growing demand, operators of the pantry are determined to reduce food insecurity.

For the remainder of the year, the pantry will be open on Nov. 25 and December 9th and 23rd.