In 2011, the food and clothing bank began at Millersville Brethren-in-Christ Church in the basement of the Manor Music Mansion building with a local Millersville BIC member heading the effort and many of the donations coming from church members. In the fall of 2011, the basement of the building flooded, and the decision was made to move the clothing and food to the loft of the sanctuary. Hence, the name became The Loft of Millersville. In January 2012, they began regular hours on Wednesdays from 6:00pm-9:00pm. The same church member leads this volunteer team, develops the logo and creates volunteer training for The Loft of Millersville. Soon the reigns were handed over to another member of Millersville BIC who took over the leadership and continued to lead it until March 2018.
The coalition that continued working up until this point, became known as The Loft Community Partnership. Millersville BIC undergoing some mission focused changes, informed the group that they were no longer interested in having the food and clothing bank as a mission of the church, but the program could continue to operate in their space. In July of 2020, in the height of a pandemic, the food and clothing banks were moved to St. Paul Lutheran Church. A drive-through distribution would be the main method of food service until August of 2022, when the food bank was moved inside the church lobby of St. Paul Lutheran. The pop-up style, client-choice pantry has grown from serving 200 families a week to over 300 area households weekly. Having outgrown the space at St. Paul, we are currently operating out of Jefferson Hall on Millersville University Campus. New programs and initiatives continue to grow and expand in addition to food services.
The Loft became an official 501c3 in March of 2020. (Yes, the first month of a global pandemic, the Loft was officially born) The Loft has always been driven by its mission to serve residents of the Penn Manor community with dignity and care.
Anti-Discrimination Policy: The Loft Community Partnership upholds a rigorous non-discrimination policy in all our activities and operations. We do not and will not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status. This policy extends to hiring, firing, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, promotions, and other employment practices. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to taking affirmative action to prevent discrimination and to ensure fairness in all employment-related decisions.