Downtown Food Pantry
"feed my sheep" John 21:17
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Lamar County, Texas (capital: Paris) in northeast Texas has a food insecurity rate of 23%. The population of the county is 50,000, meaning 11,500 people regularly have no food in their households and/or are rationing food among the members of the household.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
food/groceries
We distribute groceries to 700 families per week in Lamar County, Texas.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
food/groceries
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Just over 1.6 million pounds of food was distributed in 2022, which created 1.3 million meals for the people we served.
Pounds of fresh produce distributed per year
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
food/groceries
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
1/3 of all food we distribute is fresh produce and frozen proteins - healthy & nutritious fruits & vegetables plus meats for a better quality of life for our clients.
Number of clients receiving the grocery shopping services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
food/groceries
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This represents 20% of our county's population.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our mission is to feed the hungry of Lamar County with no regard to race, religion, sex or country of origin. To deliver the food as efficiently as possible always being cognizant of the resources we have been given. We aim to alleviate the hunger aspect of poverty in the Paris, Texas, area.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We distribute preparable grocery food items to more than 700 households every week (11,730 people in just under 4,200 households in 2020). Customers can receive food every two weeks, or 26 times per year. Groceries are distributed two times per week (Tues & Thurs).
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The community of Paris, Texas (Lamar County) is very generous and highly supportive of our efforts. We have more than 20 churches and 15 businesses who donate monetarily to us each year. In addition, six foundation grants are received and countless individuals regularly donate funds. More than 200 energetic, supportive and faithful volunteers keep the well-oiled machine of our agency in constant working order. We partner with the North Texas Food Bank (based in Plano, Texas) and receive food shipments from them twice weekly, maintaining a warehouse of food and distributing thousands of pounds of fresh produce and non-perishables each week.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We've steadily increased each year the amount of food each household receives and in 2020, we gave out 2.86 million pounds of food. We plan to never turn away a family in need and to continue to provide them more food on each visit.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Downtown Food Pantry
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Jerrica Liggins
Lori Benson
Jo Blackburn
Nikki Burchinal
Barbara Eatherly
Stacey England
Juan Hermenegildo
Beverly Johnson
Erik Roddy
Steve Smith
Kimmie Snowton
Sherry Williams
Sharon Young
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data