Thousands of Lakewood residents relied on this food pantry. Now it’s gone.
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LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Marge Collum depended on the groceries she received at Joy’s Kitchen, a food pantry down the street from her house.
Collum and her husband have done their weekly grocery shopping at Joy’s Kitchen for the past two years.
Collum had to retire early from a career with Jefferson County School District due to a disability. She said that with her fixed budget, it’s hard to keep up with increased property taxes and a rising cost of living.
Shopping at Joy’s Kitchen lets her pay her bills while still keeping her and her husband fed.
“If I didn’t have this, I would probably lose my house,” Collum said, sitting at a picnic table outside the food pantry as she waited for volunteers to call her number, letting her know it’s her turn to shop.
Joy’s Kitchen operated rent-free out of Westwoods Community Church for more than a decade, providing free food to about 5,000 families a month in Lakewood. The organization, which hosted three distribution events a week, was the only regular food distribution site within about a four-mile radius of the church.
But June 14, it held its last distribution event in Lakewood.
The church told Kathleen Stanley, founder and director of Joy’s Kitchen, in January that the organization needed to be out of the building in 60 days. After some discussion between church officials and Stanley, the church agreed to a new move-out deadline: September 1.
“It's absolutely devastating to walk away from,” Stanley said. “In this area that serves southwest Denver, and in Lakewood in general, we are the biggest hunger relief agency. Our biggest concern right now is this population here in this demographic. This community needs the food.”
In an email to Rocky Mountain PBS, Westwoods Community Church said it continues to support the mission of Joy’s Kitchen, but that there was a “fundamental organizational incompatibility.”
The space previously reserved for Joy’s Kitchen will be used for church receptions, emergency shelter and support programs for children and families transitioning from homelessness.
Joy’s Kitchen relies entirely on donations and does not receive any government or grant funding. Last year, it operated on $208,000 and employed six people. While based at Westwoods Community Church, the organization did not need to allocate any of its funding to rent.
Stanley said it was difficult to find a new location big enough to store and distribute the same amount of food that the organization could afford.
After a months-long search, the organization found a new location at the Benefits in Action warehouse in Denver’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, near downtown. Benefits in Action is a healthcare nonprofit with 20 locations across Colorado.
Downtown Denver has a greater density of food distribution sites, with at least 10 other food pantries or meal lines within four miles of Joy’s Kitchen’s new location.
Stanley is happy to provide more food options to the neighborhood, and she said she’s confident that, in partnership with Benefits in Action, the organization will effectively serve the community.
But she’s worried about the clients in Lakewood, like Collum, who might not be able to access the food pantry’s services at its new location.
“Being a senior and driving, you know, I'm not going to get on big highways. I can't even walk barely a mile. There's a lot of places further out, some downtown. Those aren't accessible to me,” Collum said.
“I might have to start working at 79 [years old]. It would really be hard for me. I think it’s hard for a lot of people that are here.”
Albert Martinez, 60, lives a mile and a half from Westwoods Community Church, and he started shopping at Joy’s Kitchen about two years ago when he lost his job. He also lost his driver’s license; it’s important to him to have grocery shopping within walking distance.
“I won't deal with food kitchens anymore once [Joy’s Kitchen] moves because I won't have access,” Martinez said at a distribution event in May.
Carlos Gantner visited Joy’s Kitchen at its Lakewood location for the first time at the end of May. He recently moved into a sober living program after being incarcerated, and another resident in the program recommended the food pantry. He said any location outside of Lakewood would be too far for him to commute to.
“Churches are supposed to be here to help the community. What [Joy’s Kitchen is] doing here, it seems pretty nice. It's definitely helpful to me. So for them to be pushed away, that doesn’t seem fit,” Gantner said.
Stanley started Joy’s Kitchen in her own kitchen 13 years ago, before moving operations into the basement at Westwoods Community Church.
Joy’s Kitchen collects its food from retailers, like grocery stores, who would otherwise throw the food away. Stanley said the organization will use the Benefits in Action warehouse space downtown to store and sort the food and host a couple distribution events each week. She hopes the organization can eventually decentralize its services and offer a distribution event in Lakewood too.
Public distribution events are paused while the organization relocates. Joy’s Kitchen will announce the new distribution schedule in July. Joy’s Kitchen will continue its outreach services — delivering food directly to residents and to organizations serving seniors, veterans and children — during the move.
The next challenge is raising enough money for the relocation, which Stanley hopes to complete by August 15.
“We remain extremely financially depressed, and ourselves in a state of crisis to complete the move away from Westwoods. We are struggling to keep up with staffing and right now have zero funds to move our assets,” Stanley said in an email.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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