07/28/2026
If you stop by the food pantry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church Peoria, IL, you’ll be greeted by Linda and Julie’s friendly faces! Around 2015, Linda went from receiving food from the pantry to assisting the volunteers. “One day I started helping, and it just evolved,” Linda (seated in the above photo) said. “I love doing this, I really do! Everybody is welcome here, no matter who they are, and I make sure they know that.”
“Linda’s the face of the pantry,” Julie chimed in. “If they come in and don’t see her, they get confused!”
Julie’s wife Nancy provides the meals served to neighbors in the pantry’s lobby, where neighbors are welcome to wait inside (protected from weather), and enjoy snacks and music while waiting to shop. Food in the waiting area can range from breakfast casserole to biscuits and gravy to meat and cheese trays. “They’re guests, and they’re in our home,” Nancy said of cooking for the neighbors visiting the pantry. “I love talking to everyone and hearing their stories. When my kids were little, we relied on a food pantry, and I think it takes someone who’s been through that experience to understand it. You don’t know how scary it is as a mother to have to count pennies from the bottom of your car for food. I know the embarrassment of feeling like you’re not doing good for your kids.”
The work in the food pantry is a true labor of love and community, and their team wants anyone experiencing food insecurity in Peoria to know the doors at St. Paul’s is open to them. “We’re welcoming here, and we’re fun!” Nancy said.
To locate food assistance near you, visit our Food Finder: https://www.eifoodbank.org/map.html
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