In our youth many of us are asked, and ask ourselves, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” That was a question not often asked of Bob McCabe, who grew up in the coal mining area of Morgantown, West Virginia. Raised by a coal mining family, it was often thought that McCabe would follow suit like others before him, but he felt there was another calling rooted within him.
After college he moved to Dallas, back to West Virginia, and then to North Carolina. In 2017 a move to Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, for a position as a full-time pastor would eventually lead McCabe, his wife, Kristie, and their four children, to Louisville in December 2019.
“When I got here I did not know much about Louisville, so I drove around and familiarized myself with the area,” he says. “In doing so, I also looked for the areas of town that had assistance already in place, such as the west end with Love City and the Park Hill Community Center. We took this time to get to know and assist others doing the same type of work in and around the area, as well as getting this area cleaned up for our use. One such organization was a pantry out of Shepherdsville that gave me some background on how to go about setting up one.”
They looked at southeast Louisville as a potential location.
“Many people don’t realize that there is a large immigrant presence in this part of Louisville and many of them are in need and/or just scraping by, but beyond that, as we learned during the pandemic, there are many families who found themselves suddenly food insecure due to employment changes,” McCabe says. “Working with other churches and Dare to Care, as well as some retailers, we built Kingdom Pantry. We started as a drive-through for families to come and get groceries and/or other needs as we had available at the time. Some weeks were more plentiful than others, but we could assist with basic staples such as meats, dairy, vegetables and/or fruit. The pantry would be open on Monday nights once a month.”
McCabe wanted as many places as possible to know about the pantry and he reached out to Jefferson County public schools in the area including Tully Elementary, which had families that could certainly benefit from the pantry’s generosity. Outreach continues and the needs of the area continue to grow as well.
“We probably started serving maybe five families, but we’ve seen our pantry serve upwards of 150 at any given time, so that absolutely tells me that there are needs that still aren’t being met and our service is a necessity to many in our area,” McCabe says. “I’ve implemented many great ideas for Overflow Community Center and I’ve got lots more to go, but of course these ideas take time to shape and require monies.”
At present, Kingdom Pantry sits on the ground floor of the Overflow Community Center, and when you walk in, it has a feeling of a grocery store while being the size of a bodega. Within, you will find racks of food and dry goods, as well as hygienic supplies and clothes and toys provided by Dare to Care, as well as retailers such as Target and Aldi’s.
When you arrive, you and a volunteer grab a cart and essentially shop the store. One of the factors that makes this pantry different from others is that it has night hours. McCabe recognized that many of those who need the pantry work during the day.
“As you may well imagine, as great as it is to get the food and dry goods donated, we are always in need of monetary donations,” McCabe says. “At this time, we always have about a dozen freezers and refrigerators on to keep the cold things cold, and we also often subsidize our food donations by purchasing more food so that we can closer meet the needs of those that we are serving, such as purchasing more milk or meats. We are applying for grants, and are diligent and responsible about doing so, as grants are hard to receive.”
Should McCabe receive a windfall of donations and/or a grant, he will set aside a large amount for his pantry, but he is also building Flow Academy, which will serve as a tutoring service for school children who need a little extra help with their education.
Clearly, McCabe is always pushing to better himself and those he serves.
If you would like more information on Kingdom Pantry, visit overflowcommunitycenter.org/programs.
