We have a very diverse pantry community. The three main languages spoken by our pantry community are English, Spanish, and Mandarin. We will also regularly hear Armenian, Korean, and Arabic to list a few more.
It is fun to watch our community as they wait for their turn to pick up food. As one would expect, people will often congregate with other people that speak the same language or come from the same neighborhood. But they will also become friends with people they see regularly and have come to know. The community will also help “newcomers” find their way through the process – which can be difficult to navigate, currently or pre-pandemic.
We try to bring in foods that will appeal to the diversity of our community. It isn’t always easy to do, but when we are able to, there is an excitement that reverberates among everyone.
Our diversity is one of the things that makes our community so great!