Prosper food pantry receives donation from local church after fire destroys supplies

Featured Photo: Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints volunteer to unload donated supplies at Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors in Prosper.

Photos by Jennifer Stice

PROSPER, TX—Prosper’s largest food pantry received a donation of food Friday morning from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The aid came in response to devastating damage to Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors’ (N3) supplies after their facility caught fire the previous weekend. The pantry lost nearly all its stock of food, clothes, and toiletries, leaving it unable to provide those items for the almost 300 families it serves in the Collin County area.

N3 workers and volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ gathered in the chilly weather Friday morning just outside of Prosper Town Hall to unload pallets of food in the parking lot and issue them to patrons in need. The 24 pallets contained over 1300 boxes of nonperishable food. Each box included canned chili, peanut butter, oatmeal, and canned fruit. N3 also welcomed donations of shelf-stable milk, applesauce, and other food supplies from the Children’s Hunger Fund, an international nonprofit organization that serves impoverished children in North Texas and around the world.

The fire upset N3’s tireless efforts to alleviate food insecurity, an enterprise that has continued uninterrupted since it was established in the 1980s by a group of women from Prosper United Methodist Church. They moved into a larger facility—their current location—in 2020, just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic and for their resources to be more needed than ever before. In December 2024 alone, they distributed 44,643 meals, feeding 775 children and 180 seniors, among many others.

Ordinarily, patrons can visit the pantry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by appointment to get what they need, but Friday morning was the first time N3’s assistance was available since the fire.

Those who use N3’s services come from many walks of life. Though they typically have homes, they may struggle to afford food. One patron, who asked to remain anonymous, said about the impact N3 has made on the life of her and her family, “To me it means a lot to get this….It gets me through my month. I’m a single mother and struggle to do what I do. But it helps me out a lot. It really does.” About the fire, she added, “I’m very sorry for what happened. We used to go there and enjoy the people there. We love the people there.”

This is only the latest collaboration in a fruitful decade-long relationship between N3 and the Church of Jesus Christ. In 2023, the Church donated 55,000 pounds, or about six month’s worth of food, split between N3 and another local North Texas food bank. In addition, many of the Church’s missionaries and local members serve there weekly. Friday’s volunteers were composed of Church missionaries. One missionary, whose help was explicitly requested by N3, was Sister Senora Tilton, a Texas native who has been serving the people of North Texas for six months. She volunteers at N3 twice a week and loves her time with the patrons there. It’s meaningful, she explains, because “I’m helping God’s children.”

N3 is still searching for a permanent location and welcomes monetary donations to help rebuild the food pantry. Though their facility is currently closed due to smoke and fire damage, some of their equipment was salvageable. Additionally, North Texas Food Bank, with whom N3 partners, will deliver a refrigerated pod to the parking lot of their usual location, which they can work out of and use to store food.N3 is optimistic about their future.

Assistant Operations Manager Jill Stillman said, “It’s God’s blessing […] We’ve been talking about growing and expanding and doing better. We’re good at what we do, but we need to get great, and this is a way to do it.”

To donate, text N3FIRE to 50155 or visit their website, n3pantry.org.