A Simple Gesture pantry pick-up increases LCM inventory, now in 80+ communities

A Simple Gesture’s Green Bag pantry pick-up model is growing into a national grassroots effort that boosts supplies at partner pantries and creates steady volunteer roles in communities. The program, described as a “pantry pick-up program” that “makes donating very easy and increases inventory at Lake Christian Ministries (LCM),” is now implemented in more than 80 communities nationwide and runs on a predictable quarterly schedule.

Community members register as donors or volunteer drivers. Under the Green Bag Program, “LCM will provide each donor with a reusable bag and a wish list of desired items.” Donors fill the bag and leave it outside their door on pre-determined days; volunteer drivers collect the donations, “leaving an empty bag and wish list for the next pick-up,” and deliver the bags to LCM. Where no driver is available, donors may drop off bags at LCM or other designated locations. The program stages collections 4x/year (one day each quarter) to create regular, concentrated inflows of food that LCM will “sort, store, and distribute the food, sharing with other pantries if needed.”

Volunteer drivers are central to the operation. A Simple Gesture’s regional materials say “Community members will register as donors and/or volunteer drivers” and the Utah chapter notes “The core of all we do at A Simple Gesture is our food collecting efforts.” An internal volunteer listing contains the fragment “Volunteer driver roles: Saturday Green Bag drivers pick up” as presented on organizational pages; that line appears incomplete in the available materials.

The expansion affects workplace dynamics for pantry staff and volunteer coordinators. Increased deliveries raise the workload for sorting and inventorying but also enhance capacity to serve clients and to share with partner pantries. For employees and regular volunteers at partner sites like LCM, the program creates predictable peaks in inbound donations tied to quarter-day collections. A Simple Gesture presents the model as family- and group-friendly: “A Simple Gesture is a simple and convenient way to help Neighbors in need. It is fun to involve children and/or grandchildren or fill bags as a group or club project.”

Organizational leadership and volunteer coordination are spelled out on ASG pages. Jan Swanton is listed as Operations Manager, Sheri Dupuis as Operations Coordinator, Maria Purcell as Director of Green Bag Donor Program, and Jean Rochelle as SHARE & Volunteer Coordinator. The board includes Dr. Vicki Foust as Board Chair and other named officers and members. The program encourages outreach by volunteers who can share materials, request an ASG representative to present to a group, or recruit drivers. For those who cannot volunteer time, “You can make a monetary donation on our Donate Page,” and regional pages invite supporters to join by filling out the online form.

The program’s growth comes as need persists in some service areas. Materials note that “Many families in the SML area live in poverty (defined as having an annual income at or below $28,290 for a family of four)” and that “the poverty rate for the counties surrounding SML has risen over the past decade,” framing the Green Bag collections as a civic response to growing local need. For workers and employers, the program presents low-friction team volunteer opportunities and predictable volunteer shifts tied to quarterly pickups; for pantry staff and volunteer managers, it means planning for concentrated intake and distribution cycles as the network continues to expand.