For 17 years, All Saints Catholic Church in Fremont has worked to reduce barriers to food access for residents of Newaygo County. Founded by Jim Merkel and now led by Steve Pope, the church’s mobile food pantry efforts are grounded in faith and a simple but powerful principle: food is a basic human need, and no one should be without it.
“Everybody has to eat,” Steve said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you are. I’m just glad we can be here to serve people.”
Distributions take place quarterly — every third Wednesday in March, June, September, and December. Each event follows a steady, coordinated process. Steve arrives about 90 minutes early to prepare the site, organize volunteers, unload food from the Feeding America West Michigan truck, and stage items for distribution. Jim remains involved as a volunteer.
Community Impact
Attendance remains steady all year. Each mobile pantry typically serves 120 households, reaching more than 300 individuals per distribution.
The most recent distribution helped 113 families receive 5,700 pounds of food. Each household received 8–9 food items, including grapefruits, red bell peppers, potatoes, cereal, frozen meals, and other nutritious staples.
Indivisible Newaygo County, a community partner, contributed to the event with their Victory Garden Initiative, offering tomato plants to neighbors free of purchase. Their hope is this would encourage home gardening and self-sufficiency, ensuring that neighbors have access to food beyond the day’s event.
All Saints Catholic Church’s commitment to serving neighbors extends beyond food distribution and into food recovery and stewardship. In partnership with TrueNorth Community Services, the church helps ensure that surplus food from mobile pantry distributions continues to benefit the community by redirecting remaining items to TrueNorth’s food bank. This collaboration not only reduces food waste but also maximizes the impact of available food resources, helping more families access nutritious food.
The longevity of the All Saints Catholic Church’s mobile food pantry effort can be attributed to a strong network of supporters who are just as invested in reducing hunger in the community. Grant funding from the Fremont Area Community Foundation and the generosity of parishioners have enabled All Saints Catholic Church to sustain its mobile food pantry and continue providing accessible food to neighbors in need.
Fremont resident David has sought support from All Saints Catholic Church’s mobile food pantry program after transitioning to a fixed income.
“There’s a lot of great food available here,” he said. “The meat they provide is a big help, especially with how expensive meat has become. The vegetables are all good, too. I’d recommend this to someone else.”