Churches fight hunger in Conference-wide Eastertide food collection

As the last of the Easter morning hallelujahs drifted into the air, members of Saint Paul’s United Church of Christ quickly began removing the lilies that graced the chancel with their heavenly-scented message “Christ is risen!”

The Easter celebration wasn’t over. It was just getting started for the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania congregation as they replaced the flowers with bushel baskets, food carts and moveable metal shelves.

The result was a powerful visual boldly proclaiming the Easter response, “He is risen, indeed!”

Saint Paul’s sanctuary morphed into a makeshift food pantry as part of its “yes” to Keystone Conference of the United Church of Christ’s “50 Days of Easter Food Challenge.”

“This display is our reminder of how great the need is. Saint Paul’s is excited to be participating in this challenge,” said the Rev. Timothy Hogan-Palazzo.

Rallying around a need

All 512 churches within in the Keystone Conference were invited to collect and donate food to their local pantries during the Great 50 Days of Easter, and then report the amounts gathered on the Conference’s website.

Congregations like Old Zionsville UCC in Old Zionsville, Pennsylvania, which already actively donates to its local pantry, enlisted the help of their youth, asking confirmation class members to be the counters.

After the challenge ends on May 24, with the celebration of Pentecost, a conference-wide total will be revealed in early June during the first annual gathering of the newly formed Conference.

Conference leaders chose food insecurity as a mission focus because it is an issue “almost all churches are already responding to, through food collection for food banks, community meals or food packs for kids,” said the Rev. Carrie Call, Keystone’s Transitional Executive Conference Minister.  

“Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep,’ so this is something we can all rally around,” said Call.

Hunger as a mission focus  

The 50 Days of Easter Food Challenge is part of Keystone’s foundational mission focus on eradicating hunger called People of the Table, which will run till 2028. At that time, the Conference Board will then choose to either continue its focus on hunger or select a new mission.

“In these early days of the new Keystone Conference, a mission focus like People of the Table is a great way to establish a new conference culture,” said the Rev. Liddy Barlow, Executive Minister of the Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, adding, “In the midst of all the administrative details of the conference merger, People of the Table reminds us that God’s people are called to love our neighbors, and to put that love into action through service.”

The work of raising awareness and eradicating food insecurity is going beyond Keystone Conference’s offices as well. Call recently met with Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Agriculture, Russell Reading, and is working with his staff to see how Keystone’s mission work can “dovetail with their initiatives to address food insecurity in the Commonwealth.”

The timing couldn’t be better

For Saint Paul’s Hogan-Palazzo, the 50 Days of Easter Food Challenge couldn’t have come at a better time.

“The hunger crisis is real — growing,” he said.

Just recently, the pastor said that the food supply delivered to the church for its Fresh Express food offering, a twice monthly partnership with the Central PA Foodbank offering residents fresh produce, was the lowest it has been in eight years.

What hasn’t been dwindling, though, are the number of people needing groceries, said Hogan-Palazzo.

“We have been seeing a huge jump in requests for help these past two years,” he said.

Saint Paul’s now serves up to 300 families through their hunger programs, a reflection of what is happening throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Studies show that as of early 2026, hunger remains a critical issue in the region, with approximately 1 in 8 people facing food insecurity. These numbers show no signs of letting up as gas and grocery prices soar and aid programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) plummet.

“It is getting more difficult for people to get not only food, but any kind of assistance,” said Hogan-Palazzo.

In addition to Fresh Express, Saint Paul’s, which is housed on what was an old farm and is currently renovating an old barn into a sanctuary to accommodate the increase in worshippers, recently expanded its outdoor little free pantry — a trend that gained momentum a few years ago where structures housing non-perishable food items are placed out in public for easy 24-hour access.

Saint Paul’s also has its on-call emergency pantry, where anyone in dire need can simply dial up a food request.

 “If ever anyone is hungry, all they need to do is to call our church. No questions asked,” said Hogan-Palazzo.

Lewisburg isn’t the only community noticing the rise in hunger. In Emmaus, Pennsylvania, the local food pantry is seeing the number of requests go up as well. In March, the Emmaus Food Pantry provided food for 384 people. A reason why St. John’s United Church of Christ has placed in its narthex a shopping cart for collecting items for the pantry as part of Keystone’s 50 Days of Easter Food Challenge. According to social media posts, the church hopes to see that cart overflow by the end of Eastertide.

For the faithful at Saint Paul’s, seeing the bushel baskets and pantry shelves on the chancel fill with canned goods and other non-perishables each week is a reminder that there is a tension to these 50 days of Easter of living with the joy of resurrection hope in a world still needing to be healed and fed.  A reason why Hogan-Palazzo stressed to start slow.

“No one can do it all,” he said, “Start by simply buying an extra can of food when shopping.”

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