Manvel Community Outreach was formed by Ruth Dietz in November, 2015 to continue the Suzanna’s Cupboard food pantry which had lost its space when the Grace United Methodist Church was closed. Ruth had been volunteering at the pantry for years and was concerned about what would happen to the hundreds of families that depended upon the food which the pantry supplied.
For a little over a year the volunteers helped at the pantry of the Baptist Church in the nearby town of Fresno which was swamped by the influx of Manvel area families which had depended upon Suzanna’s Cupboard.
Finally, in January 2017, The Church on MastersRoad in Manvel graciously offered space in their church for the pantry. On March 7, 2017, “The Well on Masters Road” food pantry opened with Ruth Dietz as its director and began serving families in need. The pantry soon began serving several hundred families each week with not only canned and dry goods, but also fresh vegetables and frozen meat as well.
Manvel Community Outreach contacted various agencies and organizations that could supply help to people in various ways such as referrals, legal and medical help and education and had them come to the pantry. Even breast x-rays were provided to clients at no charge. Even though the food pantry was reaching hundreds of families each week, Ruth Dietz knew there were many more in need that either could not get to the pantry or had needs the pantry could not serve. In order to have the time and resources to meet those needs, Manvel Community Outreach turned over the operation of The Well food pantry to The Church on Masters Road on January 1, 2019.