Our Story…
A Letter From Our Founder…
“It all started in the 1980’s when God touched my heart to speak with my pastor who was Pastor Chuck Meyers of the First United Methodist Church where I was a member. I realized that it was unique to have so many different churches in the community and the surrounding areas and the possibility of working together with common goals of Christian love was important to me.
Pastor Meyers presented the idea to many different churches in the area to find out if there was an interest in all working together as a team to spread the love of Christ.
The result was a wonderful group of individuals representing St. Dennis Church, St John Vianney Church, St. Joseph Church, Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church , First United Methodist Church and First United Congregational Church.
The group was formed and called the Lockport Ecumenical Action Committee and was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization with the state and federal governments.”
– Our Founder
Our Team…
The Lockport Ecumenical Action Committee was involved in many different areas, such as, being a phone service with the Crisis Line of Joliet for those individuals in Lockport and surrounding areas in need of assistance, driving seniors to doctor appointments, working with the police department to enforce curfew, obtaining gas vouchers for those in need travelling through our area and creating the Lockport FISH Food Pantry.with a Board of Directors.
Our Service…
The Pantry has had many homes over the years, including St Joseph Church in the Rectory basement. While at this location, we received the referrals from the various pastors of the churches involved..All the churches supplied us with the necessary food items and we advertised for donations in the community. We delivered to the people in need during this time.
Then we outgrew that location and moved to the First United Methodist Church. A pantry was built for us in the educational building. It became necessary as the need grew, and with an offer from the First United Church of Christ Church to utilize part of the Ministry Center effective in 1996. It was also necessary to better service our clients by requiring them to come to the Ministry Center for their food needs. We stayed in that location until such time when we moved to the Township Building. The pantry works with the Lockport Supervisor’s office in referring requests for services that can not be met at the pantry.