LAURA LOWNDES, director of Trinity Episcopal Church’s food pantry, did not expect Franklin County to be her forever home when she moved to Winchester in 1960. Still, after 65 years, she’s done it all — raised a family, built a community, and established a food pantry that feeds dozens of families every week.
Lowndes found this area because her husband, Dick Lowndes, had taken a temporary civilian job at Arnold Air Force Base, which lasted six years. After that, they moved briefly to Houston, where her husband worked on the lunar module with TRW, developing the guidance and control systems that would land humans on the moon. After this, the couple returned to Winchester to put down roots. They opened a civil engineering, structural engineering, and land surveying business in the area. The loving couple raised two children here — Parker and Ann. They shared 59 years of marriage before he passed away in 2017.
Lowndes attends and serves as a deacon at Trinity Episcopal Church, located across the street from Moore-Cortner Funeral Home. She knew that they offered a small food assistance option.
“It was just some food on the shelf in the kitchen,” Lowndes explained. “If somebody came by the church, and they happened to be able to catch the secretary there, then she could give them some food, but it wasn’t a dedicated food pantry yet.”
The church’s current pastor, the Rev. Dr. Amy Lamborn, approached Lowndes about creating something more substantial, a calling that Lowndes enthusiastically accepted. It started as a small ministry but quickly grew into a program that serves approximately 30 families and unhoused individuals each week.
Every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Laura and her team of about five adults and two-four teenagers volunteer to prepare and distribute food. Each person receives two bags of nonperishable items, such as cereal, crackers, peanut butter and jelly, two cans of vegetables, fruits, and meats, among other foods. Depending on what’s available from partner organizations like local farmers markets and other pantries, they also distribute fresh potatoes, carrots, chicken nuggets, bread, and French toast strips.
The parish still has a small pantry of nonperishables located outside the church for off-hour guests. This is stocked with beanie weenies, Vienna sausages, premade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, shelf-stable milk, fruit cups, and drinks.
“The pantry is open on Wednesdays, but of course, people get hungry all week long,” Laura noted.
Winchester’s community emphasises collaboration rather than competition, so local churches and groups work together to serve whole communities through charitable efforts and care. Lowndes said she partners regularly with the West Side Church of the Nazarene in Tullahoma and the Community Action Committee associated with St. Mark & St. Paul in Sewanee. The Sewanee group works with the university dining hall to package leftover food into frozen meals, which Laura picks up weekly.
Lowndes said the partnership works both ways, so when Trinity receives an abundance, they share as well.
“For example, tomorrow I’m taking them chocolate cakes and salad mixings because we got a dozen chocolate cakes and several cases of salads donated,” she said. “It’s great to be able to share.”
Last year, Trinity started something the church had been wanting to do for a decade — a community garden. On a small lot across the street from the church, volunteers built raised beds with help from a group called Growing Roots, which also provided topsoil and mulch. Another organization, Scoopin’ Roots, donated plants at the start of the growing season and seeds for winter crops in the fall.
One local dentist, Dr. Wall, has his office building right next to the church’s garden lot, and he donates the use of his water for the garden. Neighbors stop by to help tend the beds and harvest vegetables for themselves and for the pantry.
Among Lowndes’ regular volunteers are four homeschooled sisters whose family moved to Winchester last year. Their mother wanted them involved in service work, so it started with the two oldest girls and grew to include all four. The week before Thanksgiving, when the pantry distributed full holiday meals in addition to regular food, all four girls showed up to help. What strikes Lowndes most about the work isn’t the logistics of food distribution but the relationships that have developed.
“People don’t just come in and grab their food and go back out again,” she said. “A lot of them like to stay and talk.”
Even some of the visitors will stop to help prepare bags for next week’s distribution. Others join the volunteers working in the garden, stopping to chat and lend a hand.
“I think it’s been good to put names with faces and let people know that we could all get in the situation where we may need something, and that there’s nothing wrong with asking when you need some help,” Lowndes said. “We’re glad to help, but we’re also glad to recognize them as people and visit with them.”
Lowndes says the ministry’s core is recognizing shared humanity.
“They are people, and if you fall on hard times, or even make some bad choices, because that is certainly part of it sometimes, you still need to be cared for,” she said.
“Throughout Jesus’ ministry, food is usually there at the heart of it. He’s eating with the people, he’s preparing fish for the disciples, and the breaking of the bread — all of this is important. And when we open ourselves to share our tables, it’s like you’re sharing a part of yourself, your own vulnerability.” GN
Trinity Episcopal Church Food Pantry is open every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those interested in volunteering, particularly for summer garden projects, can visit the church during pantry hours, check Trinity’s Facebook page, or contact the church directly.
