A food pantry that began this summer as two small cabinets outside a Tamaqua home is quickly outgrowing its space.

“It has just evolved, it has taken on its own life,” explained Pastor Sharon Stokes, of Stokes Ministries, which founded and supports G-Lady’s Community Food Pantry.

The honor system pantry is now set up inside a shed - but Stokes said that’s also getting too small.

Her dream is to find an inside spot that will compliment the outdoor pantry by offering household and other items.

“The good news is that it is growing, but the downside is we don’t have a place to put it,” Stokes said. “We are looking desperately.”

The pantry at 220 Green St. is open daily from morning to evening. Folks simply visit and take what they need.

In addition to shelf-stable items like canned goods, potted meats and condiments, the pantry has personal hygiene necessities such as soaps, shampoos and feminine products.

“Food stamps only go so far,” Stokes noted.

There are even snacks that youths can pick up on their way to and from school.

“If you’re hungry, you’re not able to learn,” Stokes said.

The most recent addition - breads and other baked goods - are picked up twice a week and are courtesy of Weis Markets in Pottsville.

Stokes explained the pantry’s beginnings, a day when she was shopping and noticed how the price of “everything” seemed exorbitant.

“You go into the grocery store and buying a pound of ground beef is like buying gold bars,” she said.

She wondered how the less fortunate were able to afford food and decided to set the wheels in motion for a pantry.

“There are so many families that have food insecurities right here in our little area,” Stokes said.

The pantry recently received a $2,000 donation from the Tamaqua Community Hunger Campaign, sponsored by the Tamaqua Area Faith Fellowship and the Tamaqua Area Partnership,

“We were so excited. All that money just gets poured into the pantry,” she said.

Others help with nonperishable food donations, or even things like gloves and scarves or baby formula.

On a recent morning, Stokes and volunteers Katie Arnold and Gene “Pap” Blaukowitch picked up boxes of food from the Tamaqua Area Elementary School. The items from the Helping Harvest food bank were meant to be part of the “weekender bags” sent home Fridays with students with food insecurities. But when classes were canceled for inclement weather on Friday - the last day before holiday break - the district was unable to distribute the goodies, Arnold said.

“They didn’t want to see it go to waste” and contacted G-Lady’s Community Food Pantry, she noted.

Arnold, who houses the pantry on her property, said up to a dozen individuals visit each day.

But as need grows, so does the need for a larger space.

“Our next big goal is to have a building. It would not replace the outdoor pantry but add to it,” Stokes explained.

The inside location would be stocked with clothing, bedding and household goods. Stokes Ministries has been in contact with a vendor who may be able to donate new mattresses.

“When people have a house fire, and it is house fire season, they usually get some clothes, maybe money through gofundme and other odds and ends,” Stokes said. “But what if you could go somewhere and get a mattress or bedding? Now you have a place to lay your kids down, and that makes a huge difference.”

The pantry is also in search of a van.

“With a van, we would be able to pick up more donations,” Blaukowitch said.

The pantry is named after Blaukowitch’s wife and Arnold’s mother, Regina, whose grandchildren refer to her as “G-Lady.”

For more information on the pantry or how to donate, contact Stokes at 570-486-8389 or Arnold at 570-573-0509.