House of the Carpenter

House of the Carpenter is located at:

200 S Front Street

Wheeling, WV 26003

304-233-4640

Operation Hours:

the hoc has several different ministries of mercy caring for those who are hungry. the largest is the food pantry. the pantry is open on monday - wednesday - friday from 9am - 3pm. more than 500 families a month come to the food pantry for assistance. the pantry is arranged in a shopping type experience which allows people to select foods that they or their family will eat. each family receives a variety of canned fruits and vegetables, frozen meat, soup and crackers, canned tuna, cereal or oatmeal, pasta, sauce, mac and cheese, egg noodles or rice or beans, bread and dairy products as available. this is made possible through purchases made by the hoc from kroger's and the mountaineer food bank. we also receive daily donations from kroger's. the staff at the hoc can estimate how many families will be in the food pantry on a given day. donations from kroger's are placed in the pantry and if there are extra, this is made available to anyone in need. the pantry is also stocked by food drives performed by scout troops, churches, civic groups and by our stuff the truck event held at the mt. dechantel kroger's twice a year. on this day, people add a few items to their normal shopping and then contribute the extra to the food pantry.the pantry is also stocked by produce from our community gardens during the summer season of harvest. currently, the hoc is working with the east wheeling community gardens to establish a farmer's market at the hoc on the island that will allow families that come to the food pantry an opportunity to purchase fresh vegetables using a voucher system and allow anyone to benefit by buying produce locally.the annual potato drop brings 21 tons or 42,000 pounds of potatoes to the house of the carpenter each year. the potatoes are purchased through the gleaning program of the society of st. andrew. the cost is only the price of transportation. the united methodist men of the northern district partner with the hoc on this project. the potatoes arrive on a friday evening and the 21 2,000 pound pallets are unloaded. then on saturday morning, more than 30 churches and agencies from chester to parkersburg will arrive to pick up potatoes. the ten pound bags are then used in soup kitchens, food pantries and put into homes of people in need. more than 4,000 families benefit from this program.when available, the hoc hosts a mobile food pantry. this is done through a grant program managed by the mountaineer food bank. a truck with 8,000 pounds of food comes to the hoc where the food is distributed to more than 300 families in about 2 hours. the food is not allowed to come into the building so the distribution is made in the parking lot. since part of the food is frozen, this is scheduled to take place during the cold months of winter.the hoc also works with the us department of agriculture for distribution of usda commodities. these can be anything from frozen chicken to dried fruit to canned vegetables. because of the location of the hoc on wheeling island, the building is in wv. even though the hoc serves people in wv and ohio, distribution of the commodities is limited to those in wv. last year the estimated value of all the food distributed through the hoc was over $600,000. the cost for doing this is less than $100,000.

Visit Website