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Catholic Charities food pantries are accessible in Passaic, Sussex, and Morris County. Out of all these food pantries, over 7000 people are served daily. To run a food pantry, there needs to be a cohesive effort and teamwork to serve food quickly and efficiently to those in need. However, Catholic Charities has designed a system that is not only is efficient, but respectful. Carlos Roldan, the food pantry director for Catholic Charities, has created an effective system for all three locations. Roldan says he wants to make the pantries as welcoming as possible. “We need to treat people with dignity and respect, so we allow people to pick food they can eat rather than give them food ourselves,” he explained.
Carlos Roldan is the youngest in his family. For him growing up in Columbia, food was often a problem for him and his family. The cafeterias would only allow breakfast if it was paid for, leaving those who couldn’t pay without food from seven in the morning to one in the afternoon. “I thought ‘food should never be a problem for anyone,’ and I knew I wanted to help people with that,” explained Roldan. After coming to America in 1986, he realized that this country had problems with hunger as well. From that point, he followed through on his passion to help those who struggle with hunger. He was able to connect with Catholic Charities food pantry through his brother.
Catholic Charities food pantries work on a points-based system. For every item, there are a certain number of points attached to it, and patrons get to choose what items they want. This system is a unique improvement on the bag system, where people get a bag of food with certain food items inside, whether they can or cannot have it. “Let’s say you have someone who is allergic to peanut butter,” Roldan said “it wouldn’t make sense to give something to someone that they can’t have, or they do not want. This is why we must be respectful of others needs and treat them with dignity.” After people register at the door of the food pantry, they are given points based on the size of the group. One person would be twenty points, and anyone group with over four people would be given sixty points. Afterwards they are able to get what food they need based on the number of points they have. Typically, food items cost 2 points.
The three food pantries of Catholic Charities are a collaborative effort. Although Roldan is the organizer behind the donors and supplies, he is thankful for the effort the volunteers put forth. Unfortunately, people stigmatize those who come to the food pantry as being lazy and only looking for a free pass. The truth is that these people need food pantries in order to support themselves and their loved ones. “Many of the people I have talked to in Paterson and Sussex county work fulltime, and overtime jobs, but still are not able to support themselves with how much they make,” said Roldan. Carlos Roldan has created a welcoming environment that meets the needs for anyone in need of food. He runs a system that runs efficiently and treats those in need with dignity, he looks to continue his great work.