Venture Churches Food Pantry

Open Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 am and 5:00-7:00 pm


Located at:  First Reformed Church of Bethlehem, 38 Church Road (off of Rt. 9W), Selkirk, NY


We are four local churches that have been serving people in our community for over 30 years.  This ministry comes out of our faith and belief in helping fellow people in need.  We recognize each individual has unique needs.  We treat people with respect, dignity, compassion, kindness and without judgment or discrimination.  We provide a bridge to a variety of resources and cooperate with area businesses and other local food pantries.


If you are interested in volunteering at the Food Pantry or are in need of our services, please call the church office (518) 767-2243


Cash/check donations can be mailed to the church (please indicate pantry donation), placed in the pantry mail slot (outside the church office) or placed in the pantry donation basket. We are also a part of the “Adopt a Pantry” program run by the Regional Food Bank. If donating online is easier for you, visit http://regionalfoodbank.net/adopt-a-program. The webpage allows you to donate directly to our food bank account.

We’re looking for caring individuals who can commit just 2 hours a month to help serve our community. The pantry operates on Tuesdays, with two available shifts:

  • Morning: 9:30–11:30 AM
  • Evening:  5:00–7:00 PM

You only need to serve one shift per month—unless you’d like to volunteer more often! If you're interested or have any questions, please contact Diane Miller, our Volunteer Coordinator.

Email: pdmiller93@gmail.com or 518-488-8007 call or text.

In December, Venture Churches Food Pantry provided assistance to 143 people in 55 households. These homes were composed of 40 children, 67 adults, and 36 senior citizens. We welcomed 7 new families to the pantry and our volunteers gave more than 200 hours of their time during this period.


This month has been very busy for us as we saw a large increase in the number of clients in need of support. Additionally, we've undertaken a major reorganization of our space. This was prompted by the purchase of new refrigerators to ensure we're able to safely store our perishables. In order to accommodate the new refrigeration, we first had to improve the electrical access in our space. As the year wraps up, we are putting the final touches on restructuring our shopping and storage areas. This month we were pleased to again be a recipient of the "Help a Neighbor in Need" bag drive run by Glenmont Market 32. This allowed us to offer our clients an additional bag of pantry items on top of their standard assistance. We've also continued to work on our new Food Partnership with Trader Joe's. Saturday mornings are now spent picking up and sorting through their generous donations. We then share this with other local Food Pantries as well as our guests.


As the year draws to a close, it is important to note the generous support we receive from all our local neighbors and the faith and business communities. Whether you've donated food, sent a check, volunteered your time, or advocated for us, we are profoundly grateful. Your kindness, and generosity, help us to stock our shelves with essential items and provide nutritious foods to our neighbors. We truly could not do this work without the dedication of each of you and look forward to doing even bigger things together in 2026!


For the next month we're focused on collecting the following:

  • Condiments, Cleaning Products, Dish Soap, Canned Potatoes

History of our Food Pantry

To see a need and fill it is a good business plan. It is also good church outreach. In the mid 1980's, Arlene Jordan saw that there were families in our area that did not have adequate food. She approached our then Pastor, Al Janssen with a plan to assist those families. Gifts of food and holiday meal kits wer e delivered. And the Food Pantry began in one small room downstairs.


Soon Eleanor Weideman and Ray Hohl became involved. In the early 1990's a group of 4 churches gathered with the goal of doing ecumenical good works. Calling themselves the Venture Churches, they set three goals. They set up a "Clothing Closet " at the Clarksville Reformed Church, they created a schedule of meal support for the Albany Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless (IPH). and they offered to help staff and support the food pantry housed at First Reformed Church of Bethlehem.


The food pantry grew to two rooms. One for shopping and the other to store additional goods, Peg Phillips and then Sarah Hafensteiner each took a turn at leading and growing this ministry.


As the needs of the community grew, so did the pantry. Under the leadership of Carol Broderick (with Tricia Kandafer as grant writer) the pantry joined with other pantries and came under the umbrella of the Food Bank of the Greater Northeast.


Our space was renovated by a local Boy Scout as his Eagle project. What had been a single room with three wooden shelves of canned food and dry goods is now several rooms with wire shelf units. Food is organized by nutrition type. Three freezers and two refrigerators offer meat, dairy and fresh produce items. Danielle Riggi took over leadership when Carol retired due to illness.


Our current leadership is a triumvirate of women who bring new skills and energy. Lisa Lafountain, Diane Miller and Jackie Wilkie keep a team of volunteers, several rooms of food, personal and household items and school supplies ready to serve our clients. The latest addition is a stair chair device that makes it easier for those with mobility issues to access the pantry.


Besides our monthly purchases from the food bank, we get produce and dairy items from Hudson Harvest. The Delmar Hannaford donates bakery and deli items every Tuesday. This allows us to share nutritious food with our neighbors. We continue now as The Venture Churches Food Pantry but are staffed by volunteers from many churches and the community.


All of this because one person said "People are hungry. How can we help?"