Open Door Clinic at St. Wilfrid’s in Camden

The OPEN-DOOR Clinic will continue to be open every other Saturday 2023 from june 24th through october 28th. In November, the dates are november 11th and 18th and in december, the 2nd, 9th and 16th.

New dates for 2024 will be posted in december 2023.

The giving out on these SATURDAYS begins at 9:15am and ends at 11:00Am at St. Wilfrid’s Episcopal Church, 83 N Dudley Street, Camden, NJ 08105.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently featured the clinic in an article. CBS3 News featured the clinic in a segment.

Update as of June 6, 2023:

This past week marks the 140th Saturday that the Open-Door Clinic at St Wilfrid’s has distributed food since March 2020 during and since the pandemic; 134 bags, 14,335 total through Saturday May 27th 2023. In March 2020 we began a partnership with the Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken, and one Friday a month volunteers arrive at 8:00 with cars, vans and SUVs to pick up between 5000 and 8000 pounds of canned, boxed and frozen/chilled goods which we then unload at St Wilfrid’s. In the Spring - Fall we also get some fresh produce. Since March 2020 over 358,375 pounds of food and dry goods have been distributed by the all-volunteer, everything-donated, nobody-gets-paid staff of the Open Door Clinic at St. Wilfrid’s.

In late summer we begin planning for our Christmas Toy handout which is done the 2nd Saturday in December. In 2022. we collected and delivered over 200 bags of toys to the children’s families for their Christmas. Last November, we also gave out 100 turkeys/turkey breasts for Thanksgiving.

PB&J: If you are interested in making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we give out each week, please select a donation week by contacting the coordinator wendy.coffman@gmail.com.

Canned food donations, diapers and wipes can be deposited in the bin by the back entrance of Grace Church (on the PATCO side of our campus).

Please drop off non-perishables in the collection bin behind Grace’s Parish House, on the PATCO station side. Essential items especially include canned tuna and meat, canned vegetables, pasta, tomato sauce, peanut butter, diapers, and feminine products.

Started by members of Grace Church and the First Presbyterian Church in 2010, the Open Door Clinic is now a partnership of area congregations and friends providing, food, clothing, and other essentials to Camden families. We cannot do this important ministry without our dedicated volunteers. Although we are not currently functioning as a clinic, all youth and adults are invited to volunteer each month to fill all the roles, from signing in the clients, handing out the food bags and diapers/wipes, prepping over 120 food bags for the next handout week, manning the clothing tables, and other ‘odd jobs’. We are currently in need of help to prep for the Christmas Toy Handout and the November Turkey handout.

Items such as clothing, books, toys and baby supplies for the clinic may be donated in the collection bin in the Parish Hall. Financial assistance to help with the cost of heating and electricity at St. Wilfrid’s may be donated online, through the church office or through the offering plate.

I believe we are truly doing God’s work here, and it personally fills me with Joy to know our clients and do what I can to make their lives better. To volunteer or find out more, please contact me: Nora Bollinger (noramsn@aol.com, 856.625.6190). Or, see me at Grace on Sunday, after the 8:00 service or at the 10:00 service. Peace, Nora