Highland Food Pantry

In 1986, Highland designated a small closet in our building as a Food Pantry. Due to limited space the Pantry could only offer one or two bags of groceries. In 1996, the current Walnut location was donated to Highland with the intent of expanding the food pantry ministry. After renovating the building, Christian Ministries of Abilene (CMA) opened its doors as the first client-choice food pantry in Abilene. In 2013, fresh food items were added such as produce, meats and dairy products. In 2018, CMA began supplementing  the Pantry shelves with fresh produce provided by the Freedom and Grace Community Gardens. The name was officially changed to Highland Food Pantry to avoid confusion with another Abilene agency. The Food Pantry also partners with Harvest Connection of Feeding America to recover leftover foods from area restaurants and businesses.

Traditional food pantry models create a box of pre-selected items to hand out. Our client-choice model asks individuals to select their own items, like you would at a grocery store. In fact, our food pantry is physically set up like a grocery store with stocked shelves and industrial refrigerators and freezers containing a variety of non-perishable and fresh food. This helps us promote a spirit of dignity, respect, and self-efficacy as clients are empowered to make their own choices. An additional benefit is the reduction of food waste, as clients are selecting foods they know, like, and feel confident about preparing. 

The self-choice model also provides many social benefits to clients allowing for interaction and engagement with pantry staff or volunteers that assist with food choices. The visit becomes a more personalized pantry experience and allows staff and volunteers the opportunity to share ideas and resources, offer encouragement, prayer and spiritual guidance.

Since the summer of 2018, the Highland Food Pantry has partnered with the Abilene Big Country Hunger Coalition (ABCHC) to distribute hot, nutritious meals during the AISD three-week gap at the end of the summer and before school begins in the fall. Known as the Free Summer Meals program, the program has now expanded to include a week of free meals during the winter and spring breaks. These meals provide Abilene Independent School District families and their children with breakfast, lunch and dinner during the holiday breaks. The Highland Food Pantry also partners with the West Central Texas Food Bank (Feeding America) and the Basic Needs Network (BNN/2-1-1).

The Highland Food Pantry is a United States Department of Agriculture Distribution Site (USDA) and households must qualify based on poverty level income for 1-year. Households over income and in crisis can qualify on an Emergency Crisis status for a 6-month period.

We encourage you to bring a valid I. D. for all adults in the household and Social Security cards for everyone, including children.

Households may only receive groceries from the Highland Food Pantry once every 2 months.

Households must not have received food from another Abilene Food Pantry within the last 7-days of your visit to the Highland Food Pantry.

All volunteers must have a background check and complete a (free) online Civil Rights training course. Paid staff and AmeriCorp members are required to take a food safety course, which is optional for volunteers. Background checks may be required to participate in some programs at the discretion of Pantry staff.