This is another in a weekly series on local agencies that receive funding from the United Way — editor.

LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Church and Community Center’s pantry is practically empty. Shelves that are usually packed with canned goods and freezers that keep meat and other foods frozen are barren, meaning there is very little to distribute to Robeson County’s hungry.

“We have heard a lot of stories and we are all compassionate,” said the Rev. Jane Esdale, the center’s executive director since 2005. “We try to hear all of those stories and help all of the people in them.”

For 40 years the center has been helping people during their time of need; now the center is asking for help so that it can continue its mission.

Esdale says a sorry economy is a double-edged sword: The pantry is receiving fewer donations, but the number of people needing help is growing. She says the center also needs volunteers.

“Our staff is stretched so thin that if we had more volunteers to help in the pantry and more food donations, we could be open more hours during the week,” Esdale said. “More volunteer support would be a great help.”

The center was established in 1969 by Rev. Robert Mangum, who was well known in the Methodist ministries. It has two locations, in Lumberton on West Fifth Street and in Red Springs on Main Street.

The food pantry is a grocery store-type setting that offers free meats, breads, canned foods, salads, cheeses and frozen foods that are donated mostly by local stores and the Second Harvest Food Bank in Fayetteville.

In May, the United Way and the U.S. Postal Service held a food drive and collected about 19,000 pounds of food that went to the center’s pantry. Esdale said that about half that stock has been distributed.

Esdale makes sure that any monetary donations go far. As an example she points out that 700 pounds of food was purchased with $140 that 8-year-old Harrison Watts raised in August at a lemonade stand.

“People are generous and we are thankful,” said Esdale. “Without individuals, the faith community, and the United Way, we would not exist.”

She said the center is entering a critical period.

“Our need increases in the spring and in the months of November and December,” Esdale. “That’s usually when we start running out of food.”

The center does more than feed the hungry.

Deborah Chaves, a 40-year-old single mother with two daughters, was helped with her electricity bill when she missed work for five months after surgery earlier this year. A friend told her about the center and the services it offers.

“I’m an independent woman, but this was a good thing to have,” Chaves said. “They were very friendly. I’m glad I was referred to them.”

The center also provides people with wheelchairs, shower chairs, canes, walkers, and personal hygiene kits, but those supplies are also low.

Anne Crain has been volunteering in the center’s pantry since September. She recently retired as a social worker and volunteer coordinator with Southeastern Hospice. Crain stocks shelves, monitors how much food each family gets, and talks to different groups about possibly donating or volunteering.

“After I retired, I was looking for some useful things to do,” Crain said. “I enjoy meeting the people and that was one of the things I loved about my old job. I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”

The center also helps people — children and adults — learn basic reading and computer skills. According to Esdale, two out of 10 students from a literacy class held at the center last year were able to find a job.

But that program has been suspended because there are no volunteers to teach the skills.

The center also has a store that sells “gently used” items that have been donated, with the profits going to fund the programs.

Jim Nance has been working at the center’s Home Store for five years. Nance said it is modeled after Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.

The store not only sells various used goods at bargain prices, it also helps people integrate into the workforce by offering community service hours or summer work programs through Robeson Community College and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

“I came here to see if I could change the economic setup of Robeson County,” Nance said. “The opportunity is here.”