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Maryland church’s baby and toddler pantry operates on faith to serve hundreds

Mothers and moms-to-be choose from an assortment of baby clothes at Jessup Baptist Church's Baby & Toddler Pantry. Photo by Sharon Mager


JESSUP, Md. – In its monthly baby and toddler pantry, Jessup Baptist Church supplies hundreds of families with free diapers, wipes, formula, clothing and other necessities.

“Last year, our budget for the baby pantry was $600, but we gave away over $60,000 worth of diapers, $30,000 in wipes, and $50,000 in formula. It’s insane the amount of material that’s come out of the pantry!” said founder and director Becky Delisio.

Becky Delisio, a veteran and homeschooling mom, founded and directs the pantry. Photo by Sharon Mager

“Our church has put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but the actual funds from the church are very small. It’s just an incredible testimony to what the Lord can do with five fish and two loaves of bread.

“So I tell everybody, when you operate on faith, and the Lord is behind you, you’re going to see fruit from the ministry.”

Jessup Baptist partners with charitable organizations, including The Anne Arundel Food Bank and the Walk the Walk Foundation. Local churches also provide help. Love AME Church has coat and toy drives. “They also kept us stocked in formula during the shortage in 2023,” Delisio said. Another church, Payne AME, brought its choir and ran the distribution center for months. Other local churches, including Life Connection Church, help as they are able.

Even with all the help, the pantry sometimes maxes out due to increasing needs, but God provides.

“I can’t tell you how many times we didn’t get the number of diapers and other donations we thought we expected, and then we’re opening the doors, and we’ve got a long line, and here comes someone pulling in with a truckload of diapers,” Delisio said. “One time, we were stressed because we ran out of pull-ups, which depleted our size 5 and 6 diapers. Then this man drives up, and it was like a clown car because he had bag after bag after bag of pull-ups. He kept us stocked for another two months.”

The ministry has not been without its challenges. Delisio thought she would have to shut the pantry down last May because of the lack of volunteers. She showed up with her four small children, the youngest strapped to her, and no volunteers.

Volunteer Amanda Weinberg sorts and moves baby clothing at Jessup Baptist Church’s Baby & Toddler Pantry. Photo by Sharon Mager

Then, out of the blue, two women, Jacquie Weinberg and Carmen Cedeno, walked in the door ready to help. Cedeno speaks Spanish — a God-send to help with many of the Hispanic families. Delisio says both women have been solid, steadfast workers. It was also during this period that Delisio was dealing with illness from a confirmed dangerous brain leak that doctors said “healed itself.”

More volunteers have stepped forward, and the coffers are full. Jessup Baptist members, including Jim Kayse, who faithfully takes care of the massive trash removal job, and the steady volunteers from all around, assist in the labor (and love) intensive pantry. Local high schoolers volunteer for community service credit.

“The pantry is literally like the woman with the oil because we’ve never run out of what we need since we opened,” Delisio said. “It didn’t come from our church. God just provided.”

The pantry started in 2020. Jessup Baptist has long collected money to help a local pregnancy center, but God began opening Delisio’s eyes to more possibilities.

During the COVID pandemic, the church sent a small donation to a partnering church in Costa Rica and received a thank-you card with a photo showing how the church had used the funds.

“They took the little bit of money we sent them and put together baby bags for moms in Costa Rica who couldn’t even get access to diapers because of the shutdown,” Delisio said. “I told my husband, if they can do this in a state of complete poverty and complete lockdown, what are we doing?”

Becky Delisio puts her arm around a young mother leaving the pantry. Photo by Sharon Mager

She sought help from Kim Donadio, founder of Helping Hands of America Emergency Pantry. She also talked with her pastor, Bill Jones, who said, “If you want to run with it, let’s see where it goes!”

In 2021, Donadio started sending baby supplies for the church but no diapers. Still, the church put the items out and was surprised at the number of people that showed up.

Two months later, a donation of $2,500 from Donadio allowed Delisio to make her first giant diaper purchase from Costco.

The pantry started in a classroom and quickly took over the whole first floor of the building. Guests register in the sanctuary, where the pastor and others welcome them. Then, they “shop” for clothing, diapers, formula and more. Outside are strollers, car seats and other large items.

At a recent pantry, hands full, with a child beside her, one woman said, “I don’t know what I’d do without Becky and the pantry.” A social worker was browsing through clothing. She had a client from Belgium who was by herself and couldn’t speak English. The client was ready to give birth soon and had only one pack of diapers and a couple of outfits for her baby. The social worker contacted the pantry, and volunteers quickly began gathering as much as they could to help the young woman.

“I stand amazed at how God has used this ministry,” said Pastor Jones. “JBC has not grown in size as a result of this ministry; however, more importantly, we have experienced spiritual growth and opportunities for more of our church body to serve the community as a result.”


This article originally appeared at bcmd.org.

    About the Author

  • Sharon Mager