Visitors to Moruya Food Pantry at Southern Life Church in Moruya may easily not realise they aren't at a supermarket.
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There are trollies, a cash register and rows of neatly stacked shelves with a range of food and hygiene products.
The music is perhaps louder than your average supermarket, and occasionally you will see the staff dancing along to the beat.
However for team leader Pamela Reseigh, the Moruya Food Pantry is very different to your normal supermarket.
"It's not like the supermarket," she said. "It's like family here."
"People coming through the door feel it.
"This is such a nice place to be."
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Moruya Food Pantry started in 2008 from a single cupboard and has gradually grown in size and product range.
Up to 50 people may visit the pantry each week, and Ms Reseigh said that number was only increasing as more people faced economic strain.
Three people had signed up to join the pantry just that week.
The pantry receives a weekly delivery, but Ms Reseigh is on the Food Bank website up to seven times a day trying to book in the best and cheapest products to line her shelves. They accept any donations from the community.
The pantry tries to supply the basics for those who needed it in the community in a dignified way.
"It is a hand up not a hand out," she said.
Pantry club members always tell Ms Reseigh how much they miss the pantry when they are not open during the school holidays.
"They feel the significance in the shopping bill when we aren't here," Ms Reseigh said.
However the pantry offers far more than just the groceries needed to survive.
"'For some people this is their only outing of the week," Ms Reseigh said.
"We sit and chat to them. It is a chance to check in with people.
"Sometimes we hear how they are going and can help out. Just the other day we gave people some blankets because we found out that was what they needed.
"We just help where we can."
The pantry is working with a local food grower to start producing their own fresh vegetables onsite - spinach, carrots, potatoes and onions.
"All the things everyone uses all the time," Ms Reseigh said. "We'll be able to have them nice and fresh."
Moruya Food Pantry is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 1pm in the hall at Southern Life Church, Moruya, next to Moruya TAFE.
James Tugwell
james.tugwell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
0447 189 738
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