Citrus Heights food bank to close temporarily

By Sara Beth Williams–
The Sunrise Christian Food Ministry will be temporarily closed for two weeks, according to the food closet’s director.

Beginning on March 24, the food closet will be closed through April 4 while Advent Lutheran Church repairs and replaces the campus driveways and parking lots, Sunrise Christian Food Ministry Director of Operations April Jacek confirmed last Wednesday. Jacek added that all updated information can be found on the food closet’s website at www.sunrisechristianfoodministry.org.

Anyone in need of food resources can call 211 to find other food closets or agencies nearby that can help.

During regular operation, the Sunrise Christian Food Ministry food closet is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday evenings between 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Since the onset of the pandemic, the food closet now operates in a drive-thru format, and families can enter the lower parking lot at 11 a.m., where they register with a volunteer who enters their information into the database through a tablet. Those seeking food resources can wait in their vehicles.

Prior to the pandemic, Jacek said clients walked up to the food pantry and waited in line in all types of weather before being able to register in person and then receive food. According to a 2019-2020 update on the ministry’s website, the facility was serving an estimated 70 to 80 families per day in 2019, and clients were required to be residents of Citrus Heights.

At the onset of the pandemic lock down, Sacramento County closed 201 emergency food distribution agencies, but 24 essential agencies were allowed to remain open, including Sunrise Christian Food Ministry. Sacramento Food Bank, which contracts with various farms, began receiving increased quantities of food, but because they weren’t able to supply all 225 agencies, they focused on supplying the 24 essential agencies, ensuring that the food closet had plenty to give to a sharp rise in need. According to the ministry’s website, by the summer of 2020, the food ministry was serving between 100 and 120 families.

With the new drive-thru format, Jacek said registration is much faster, clients do not have to wait in inclement weather, and the ministry has consistently been serving 200 families per day.

The facility also began offering emergency bags of food in a to-go format for unhoused individuals, who are allowed to come to the center once per day to pick up the bag.

Other clients are allowed to pick up food for their family once per month, but the food closet also provides an emergency food supply once per week. The standard amount of food available per month includes multiple perishable and nonperishable food items such as fruits and vegetables, frozen meats, pastas, canned goods and desserts. A bag of emergency food supplies comes with peanut butter, instant pastas like mac and cheese, dried fruit, and a selection of canned goods.

In the last two years, Sunrise Christian Food Ministry has also partnered with multiple agencies and launched new outreach programs, their website said, including a homeless outreach that brings food and supplies to the unhoused, partnering with Sayonara Center and Vintage Oaks Senior Living Community, and partnering with 211 and United Way, Ride United. The United Way program allows the food closet to deliver, within a 10-mile radius, food boxes to home-bound seniors with the assistance of DoorDash.

The Sunrise Christian Food Ministry is located at Advent Lutheran Church at 5901 San Juan Ave. in Citrus Heights.