The Compton Food Pantry under the auspices of the Compton Chamber of Commerce has been serving the Compton community successively and without interruption since its inception in March 2020.
Today, the pantry operations under the auspices of the Compton Chamber of Commerce continue at the St. James AME Church location with the Chamber's full commitment to serve the community for the years to come.
The Compton Food Pantry operated at 700 N. Bullis Road location in Compton (Compton Housing Authority Building and home of the Compton Chamber of Commerce office) from March 2020 to January 2021.
In January 2021, due to the changing priorities of the city regarding the use of the 700 N. Bullis location, the Compton Food Pantry moved to a new temporary location: The city owned/underutilized Community Center Building in the Lueders Park (located at the corner of N. Bullis Road and Rosecrans Avenue). The pantry operations continued at the Lueders Park location from January 2021 through January 2022.
In search for a permanent location for the Compton Food Pantry, the Compton Chamber of Commerce reached out to community late 2021.
Moving Forward—
After over 30 years of absence in the city of Compton, the AME denomination church opened on March 13th, 2022 headed by the Compton native Pastor Nicolette Birdsong.
Dr. Lestean Johnson, President of the Compton Chamber stated that “The Compton Chamber is elated to have Pastor Nicolette Birdsong come back to her roots here in Compton to fulfill a two-fold purpose. She’s not only returning to continue building up the Compton community through faith-based services and outreach (and pantry project falls under this mission), but also to build affordable housing for the community she was born and raised in. This is an exciting time for the City of Compton and the churches who will be fortunate to be a part of these projects.”
In February 2022, the Compton Food Pantry program was welcomed by St. James AME Church under the tutelage of Pastor Nicolette Birdsong. Soon after, the Compton Food Pantry moved its operations to the St. James AME Church.
At the present time, we are blessed with our new home at the St. James AME Church.
Pantry Location: St. James AME Church
(St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church)
Address: 601 W. Rosecrans Ave., Compton, CA 90222
Phone: (310) 933-8612 or (323) 758-6786
E-mail: revnikkibirdsongwilson@gmail.com
Hours of operation:
Delivery to seniors/disabled: Fridays 10 am – 3 pm
Community distribution: Saturdays 11 am – 3 pm
Church distribution: Sundays 12 noon – 1 pm
Currently, we are blessed with Pastor Nicolette Birdsong's support and all the great people who are assisting us. Nonetheless, we are always welcome new volunteers who can assist our pantry operations in different such as sorting out expired foods, getting things ready for delivery/distribution, doing basic paperwork on the back-end, providing marketing services, and helping in getting the word out to pantry recipients. We will definitely be needing more help during every Christmas season with extra gift baskets to prepare, and delivery drivers to reach the people in need who don't have transportation.
Please contact the Compton Chamber of Commerce if you have any questions regarding the Compton Food Pantry program, to be added on the recipient list, or apply to volunteer.
To learn more about the history/background of the Compton Food Pantry, please visit our website at the following link: https://www.comptonchamberofcommerce.org/compton-food-pantry
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