Food Pantry Testimony: More Than a Meal
June 8, 2026
Mirtes (“Mia”) Anagao has been a part of the Walnut Hill Community Church Food Pantry community since the pandemic began in 2020. While waiting in her car to receive food during one of her early visits, she was approached by a member of the Evangelism Team. After spending time praying together, Mia was invited to attend a church service. She began attending the Sunday a.m. service and quickly fell in love with the church community. Today, her teenage daughter also attends Walnut Hill and is actively involved in the Youth Ministry.
Three years ago, Mia began volunteering at the pantry after realizing she wanted to do more than simply receive assistance each week. Since then, serving has become a meaningful part of her life and faith journey. The pantry has impacted her not only through the provision of food, but also through the lasting spiritual impact on her family, especially seeing her daughter develop a relationship with Jesus. Mia now faithfully serves as a pantry volunteer and continues to be deeply blessed by the experience.
Mia is one of the many examples of how families experiencing food insecurity have been touched by the light of Jesus Christ. The Walnut Hill Community Church Food Pantry is blessed to be able to not only serve physical food to families, but invite them to meet and be transformed by Jesus Himself.
Celebrating 10 Years of God's Faithfulness Through 10 Years of Food Pantry
June 1, 2026
It was a decade ago when the first Connecticut Food Bank mobile truck entered the Walnut Hill Community Church Bethel campus parking lot in January 2016. The United Way who managed the distribution had first reached out to our church due to the size of our parking lot. It provided the space needed to open their mobile food pantry to the public. There, families struggling with food insecurity in the Greater Danbury area were finally able to access healthy food. Little did we know this would be the birth of the Walnut Hill Community Food Pantry…
Soon after the first pantry, Pastor John Dischinger from Walnut Hill, began to coordinate recurring pantries inviting United Way to serve these families once a week.
Quite quickly, other church ministries began to get involved. The Kids Ministry at Walnut Hill hosted childcare for families to relax and be served. The church established a blood pressure screening station staffed by medical professionals from Walnut Hill, helping identify clients who were at risk and referred for immediate medical intervention. Amazingly this simple mobile pantry soon turned into a church mission.
In the fall of 2019, with more and more families coming, Walnut Hill took on the management of client contact and food distribution from CT Food Bank and United Way. The operation had moved back out to the parking lot but now as a machine of its own. Under the leadership of Pastor John Dischinger and Café Coordinator, Lori Turco, produce, bread/bakery, frozen, and dry goods all became staples to hand out to families, with 150 families being served within one hour.
It was as if God was preparing the pantry for the Covid outbreak in 2020. With this model, the pantry was able to serve 430 families in desperate need of food weekly March-June thanks to the dedication of corporate donors, faithful volunteers, and God’s provision in resources.
The pantry continued to grow extending out to New Milford for a season, and also out to Derby which continues to run on the 3rd Wednesday of every month serving about 150 families monthly. The Bethel pantry reached its highest number of families ever served in a single night on March 27, 2024 with 1,039 families served. That’s 3,273 individuals total!
The Walnut Hill Community Church Food Pantry seeks to share the love of Jesus with those experiencing food insecurity in the Greater Danbury area. With the support of more than 45 partners and 665 volunteers, we have distributed more than 3.9 million pounds of food, serving over 7,600 families in our local community. Praise God!
As we look back on 10 years of Food Pantry history, we are grateful to God for how He has used and grown this ministry. Be on the lookout every Monday for the month of June for more stories like these!
