On Easter Sunday, Conduit Ministries, the church located at 120 Delaware Ave., served more than 386 meals in Brooklyn Square, a slight uptick from what the church served a full year ago, in the square.

However, Danielle Pacitti, a food truck team member with Conduit Ministries, says the growing uptick is far from a fluke.

“We’re seeing a growing number of people at our food truck lines on Sunday,” she said. “We provide hot meals every Sunday in Brooklyn Square from 3 – 4:30 p.m. “We are also seeing people we have not seen for months -they are telling us it is because the cold blue shelters are booting them during warmer weather.”

Pacitti said that not only have the church’s food truck numbers been on the rise, but that the hungry clientele seeking a meal is now a mixture of homeless people and your ‘average Joes’ who are struggling to keep food on the table because of the rising cost of everything.

Jessie (last name withheld by request), who is homeless, is dragging all he owns in a ‘borrowed’ hotel cart up Second Street on April 4. Jessie admits that he has substance abuse problems and mental health issues and ‘does not play well with others.’ However, he was on hand Sunday to receive a hot meal and has since been placed at the United Christian Advocacy Networks City Mission, located at 7 W. First St., on Easter Sunday. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

Church officials report that since the inception of the Conduit in a Box Food Truck Ministry, the food truck teams have observed a massive uptick in food requests.

“While the numbers fluctuate, they tend to increase steadily,” said Pacitti. “So far, since January 2025, we have served 3,849 meals; in 2024, we served 13,658, for 17,507 meals to date.”

However, the hunger pangs that are affecting those utilizing Conduit Ministries Food Truck ministry are also being felt by other non-profits in the area as well.

According to Cherie Rowland, executive director of the St. Susan Center, the soup kitchen at 31 Water Street, Suite 130, in the Gateway Center, has served more than 10,277 meals since January. Additionally, the center currently serves more than 200 meals daily, which puts it on pace to serve 60,000 meals or more in 2025, making it another record-breaking year for meals served.