Volunteer Info about the Food Cupboard

St. John Food Cupboard
A Ministry of the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. John

The Food Cupboard serves residents of East Lansing, MSU students, and members of our church family.  Operating more than 40 Saturdays throughout the year, the Food Cupboard annually provides more than 1,500 bags of groceries and personal care items to neighbors in need.

The Food Cupboard is staffed by parish volunteers and is open from 9 to 11 every Saturday morning during the school year and twice monthly during the summer.  Food Cupboard guests can shop for fresh produce, dry-good items, a selection of toiletries.  In addition, each guest is given a $10 Meijer gift card.  

The Food Cupboard is made possible by in-kind and financial contributions from members of St. John/St. Thomas parish family, funding provided by the Meijer “Simply Give” program, and food received from the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
We welcome parishioners to volunteer at the Food Cupboard - one time, occasionally, or on a regular basis.  Volunteers are needed for:

• purchasing or picking up items at Meijer
• transporting and sorting donated items
• packaging food on Friday evenings
• serving guests at the Food Cupboard or Mobile Food Cupboard on Saturday mornings.  

Families (teenagers and above) and groups of friends are especially encouraged to sign up as a group of volunteers for the Friday evening packaging shift.  

Ready to volunteer?  
Sign-up now by accessing the signup form.  Questions?  Email us at foodcupboardsj@gmail.com.

Other ways you can help:
The Food Cupboard relies on the generosity of parishioners for donations of dry-good and personal-hygiene items, as well as monetary contributions.  See our wish list* if you would like to donate items (donation bins are available at both St. Thomas and St. John Student Center). If you wish to contribute financially, you may designate your gift to the Food Cupboard via the parish’s online giving option. 

*Wish List:
Items that are always in need at the food cupboard include toilet tissue, paper towels, laundry detergent, cleaning products, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, and assorted snacks.  Please note that we CANNOT accept expired food items- even if they are barely past the expiration date.