The Kelly Memorial Food Pantry was founded in 1999 in the basement of Trinity First United Methodist Church. It was run by volunteers who felt that hunger in El Paso should be unacceptable.
Now we’re called the Kelly Center for Hunger Relief and we’re more than just a food pantry – but we still feel that way about hunger today.
Scroll down to view a timeline that shows just how far we’ve come since our founding!
The next 10 years saw rapid and sustained growth. In 2010 Kelly incorporated as an independent nonprofit and in 2011 received its IRS 501(c)(3) charitable designation.
Having more than outgrown its home at Trinity-First, Kelly gratefully accepted an invitation from the Church of St. Clement to move into the property at 915 N. Florence, which significantly improved the Food Pantry’s capacity and service.
In 2010, Jardin de Milagros, a farm in Anthony, New Mexico, was established by Jerry and Susie Hobson with the goal of providing fresh produce to El Pasoans in need.
In 2016 Kelly partnered with the Paso del Norte Health Foundation to create the FreshStart Program. This innovative program helps food insecure clients overcome barriers to social and economic mobility to achieve greater food security and financial independence.
In 2017 Kelly joined the El Pasoans Fighting Food Bank network which has enabled Kelly to expend its services to the entire county of El Paso.
In 2020 the Kelly Memorial Food Pantry filed a DBA (Doing Business As) to change its name to the Kelly Center for Hunger Relief. The change reflected the increased services offered through both the Pantry and the FreshStart programs.
Kelly Memorial Food Pantry was founded by Mr. Robert (Bob) E. Kelly in 1999 in the basement of Trinity-First Methodist Church.
Bob was a member of the Trinity-First congregation for 36 years and created the pantry, first called the Daily Bread Food Pantry, to alleviate hunger he saw in the community. His philanthropic vision lives on through a memorial gift he left to us, and our organization is named in his honor.
In late 2022 Kelly added a new service, a Community Clothes Closet. As part of our efforts to empower our clients to become more self-sufficient, visitors can obtain gently used professional and business casual clothing appropriate for an office environment.
