Common Ground Ministries, a food pantry serving people in northeastern Pennsylvania for nearly 20 years, is anything but common.

Based in a former Catholic church in Beaver Meadows, Common Ground was founded by Pastor Everett Upton and his wife, Sherry, in New Jersey in 2003 before moving to the Poconos four years later.

Common Ground now serves people in Carbon County, bringing the pantry to them and offering curbside pickups.

The roots of the Uptons’ outreach ministry began as a simple act of charity, feeding the hungry and homeless on Sherry’s way home with food her culinary class in New York had prepared.

Later, they began a soup kitchen at the church they attended and then worked with inner city youth through after school programs and summer camps, which brought them to the Poconos.

The couple considered settling into semi-retirement in the Poconos, but found people there were struggling, too. They began an outreach ministry in Monroe County and extended it into Carbon County because of the need in this area, Pastor Upton said.

Common Ground still does a drive-through distribution in Swiftwater, setting up in a restaurant parking lot and different groups of volunteers come up to help and serve as many as 150 vehicles an hour, he said.

The drive-thru distribution also eliminates the stigma some people associate with food pantries and having to stand in line, Upton said.

Common Ground has also brought food to people where they live or congregate, such as in senior living or senior centers, he said.

The ministry now helps people in Carbon County by delivering food directly to neighbors in need and with a curbside pickup. Both are accessible through the pantry’s hotline at 570-801-2699. People can call or text for an appointment, he said.

Upton estimates they’re serving about 2,000 people in Carbon County, and with a partnership with other pantries and groups, he believes that they could achieve zero hunger in the county by the end of 2025 or 2026.

“Our model of mobile delivery can deliver to someone that doesn’t have accessibility and that area can be served,” Upton said, explaining there would be no reason to go hungry if a person accepts delivery.

Fresh

The pantry provides people with staples, such as rice, noodles and canned goods from Second Harvest Food Bank and other suppliers, but also created a Garden of Eating outside its building along Berwick Street.

Vegetables harvested from the garden are given to clients, or neighbors as they like to call them. Sherry even made and shared a pizza topped with the garden vegetables, he said.

“It was all picked and eaten within an hour,” Upton said. “You can’t get better and fresher than that.”

They also work with local farmers, and this year, Lowe’s and Home Depot donated 1,000 plants that they distributed to clients, allowing them to plant and grow their own food.

They also partner with local farms to encourage eating fresh foods and healthy living, Upton said.

Food waste

Common Ground also reduces food waste in the area by taking food near its expiration date that grocers must soon toss, such as fruit platters which are too expensive for many people to buy, he said.

The stores contact the pantry that they have items, and Common Ground picks them up — making multiple pickups each week, and delivering food to people in need often the same day.

“We reduce about 100,000 pounds of waste, because these are items that are just getting ready to go the dump,” Upton said.

With Common Ground delivering these items to people, they’re receiving it while it’s still fresh and cold, he said.

Food that is too far gone is given to farmers that the pantry partners with to use as compost, further reducing waste.

Funding

Upton would like to see more funding go to the food pantries, and even wrote a bill to direct federal dollars down to the smaller operations that work one-on-one feeding people in the community.

“The lion’s share of the funding goes directly to the food banks,” Upton said. “A lot of times that money doesn’t funnel down to the pantries.”

Yes, the pantries get the food from the food banks, he said, but then must find their own funding for storage, vehicles, maintenance and general operational costs to run their pantry.

“Where does that money come from?” Upton said. “It takes a lot to facilitate a large building.”

He estimates that it costs around $150,000 a year to run Common Ground, which includes one full-time staffer and some part-timers. He proposed 10% of the funding headed toward larger operations go to small pantries for their operational costs.

“The Upton Bill would allow pantries to have some sort of earmark that would be designated just for them,” he said. “It doesn’t have to cover the whole budget, but it could at least give you something to build on.”

Pantries could then know their utilities are covered, or have funding for a machinery repair or truck breakdown, Upton said.

Most of their vehicles were donations, or came through grants, such as the refrigerated truck which came from waste grants. They’re currently hoping for a van donation, possibly from one of the local car dealerships.

Without a funding source, the pantry must rely on grants and donations to pay its bills and upkeep on the building, which was also funded through grants during the pandemic.

The pantry would appreciate any donations to continue its mission, serving people in Carbon County, while it awaits action from federal legislators on the Upton Bill and its inclusion in the federal Farm Bill next March, he said.

Upton would love to see other ministries in the area work with them and contribute to the pantry, which West Hazleton Trinity Lutheran Church did in 2022, giving $5,000. The funding was a blessing, he said, because one of the delivery trucks broke and the donation covered the repairs.

But partnerships with other churches or ministries are another way that Upton sees Common Ground continuing its outreach, and each help the other, as they’re all in the same business, he said.

“To bring people closer to Christ,” Upton said.

Free events

Common Ground not only provides food where people live, but invites them to join with others for free events, such as dinners, picnics, bingo, paint and sip, or karaoke at its facility.

Clients can socialize with others, but also make contact with social service agencies that provide services they may need, Upton said.

The former church on Berwick Street provides plenty of space for the pantry downstairs, but also for people to gather upstairs, share a meal or a coffee, read a book in the library and still watch children play and interact.

These events also allow people from different backgrounds to come together and find Common Ground, Upton said, noting tension still exists between established groups and new people coming into the area.

“When we do programming, it’s all together,” he said. “It’s breaking down those barriers, because when you see someone foreign or different, you don’t know them until you’ve been around them.”

People quickly find out that even though someone speaks a different language that they’re not that different from themselves, Upton said, and they begin building connections.

Today, military children will be honored with free backpacks filled with school supplies at this month’s free event starting at noon, he said.

There will be a family craft, music and food prepared by Upton’s son, Nick, also known as Chef Nick. A special guest will also make an appearance at a party for children with birthdays in September, he said.

People can call or text the hotline at 570-801-2699 or eventbrite.com for tickets for the free event.

While the events differ from month to month, they all carry the same common theme, a place where no goes hungry, Upton said.

“Everybody eats,” he said.