If indeed the stomach is the best way to an individual's heart, then food has the ability to foster friendships.

The Lititz Warwick Community Chest exists for the sole purpose of serving neighbors. While that mission has evolved over the years, the organization is currently focused on serving the community through food.

In fact, if you referred to the Lititz Warwick Community Chest as a food pantry or a food bank, new president Michelle Caron would not be offended in the least.

"There is a lot of need," said Caron. "We work really closely with the school district to help identify families that need a hand. The only requirement is that you live in the Warwick School District. It's for people who hit an unexpected rough patch. All you have to do is ask for help. It's really about being neighborly. If my neighbor needs a hand, I'm going to reach out and give a hand."

Located at 200 W. Orange St., Lititz, the Lititz Warwick Community Chest is a nonprofit made up of all volunteers, about 85 of them. The volunteers deliver food, work in the pantry and man phones.

The Lititz Warwick Community Chest's motto is "Neighbors helping neighbors."

"Everyone lives in and around Lititz," said Caron of the volunteers. "Some have lived here their entire lives. They're all volunteers, and now we're starting to get generational volunteers. There are lots of different ways for people to volunteer. We're always looking for new neighbors to join us."

The Lititz Warwick Community Chest does not prepare and serve hot meals. But in 2023, the organization made over 900 deliveries of food to local families and individuals in need - up from 678 deliveries from the year before and 550 deliveries in 2021.

The Lititz Warwick Community Chest is supported directly and indirectly by service organizations, churches and businesses. Much of its donated food results from two large annual food drives, the Boy Scouts' Scouting for Food initiative in November and the letter carriers union's Stamp Out Hunger in May.

"We live in an incredibly generous community that recognizes there is a need," said Caron, a resident of Lititz. "We are one aspect of a bunch of organizations who are ready to help our neighbors. That's such a rewarding and fulfilling feeling. To know the community has your back just makes this whole thing work. It takes this group of passionate volunteers."

The origins of the Lititz Warwick Community Chest date back to the early 1900s when nurse Annie Jenkins rode her bicycle to administer basic health care to local residents. While the services the organization has provided have fluctuated, the Lititz Warwick Community Chest has always stayed true to its mission of assisting neighbors in need.

"We're hyper-focused on Lititz," said Caron, who began her three-year term as president in November of 2023. "One of the great things about being all volunteer is that we have the ability to adjust to external stimuli. We have been many things in the past. Now we're food only."

"I've been learning a lot, but I'm managing," continued Caron. "My role, as I see it, is to keep the chest moving forward, then, in three years, hand the wheel off to someone else."

For additional information on the Lititz Warwick Community Chest, dial 717-627-0770.