Volunteer Lori TenPaz hands an order to Devan Sharon after helping him pick up food for his pit bull Bazzle at the Trinity Lutheran Church pet food pantry on Saturday, April 29, 2017. Sharon said the pantry helped him feed the dog he rescued from a Kansas City shelter during some end-of-the-month situations.

A woman left the fellowship hall of Trinity Lutheran Church on Saturday morning with a smile and a few words for Lori TenPaz, a volunteer who had just accompanied her to a U-shaped arrangement of folding tables laden with pet food.

“My cats will be happy,” she said.

That’s the point of Trinity Lutheran’s Pet Food Pantry, which provides cat and dog food to all comers from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the church, 1245 New Hampshire St.

A sign in the Trinity Lutheran Church fellowship hall lists the number of cats and dogs feed with food their owners picked up at the church's pet food pantry on April 22. The church is seeking donations of cash or pet food for the pantry open from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays at the church, 1245 New Hampshire St. Donations can be made by calling 785-843-4150.

“It’s a mission,” said Paula Elster, wife of Trinity Lutheran pastor Brian Elster. “We want to help the Lord’s families stay together. Our pets are part of our families. I’ve had people tell me they buy food for their dogs before they get something for themselves. Now they can both have food. We don’t want people to have to give their pets away or take them to the shelter because they can’t feed them.”

The pantry is a well-organized operation. Pet owners are greeted at the door of the fellowship hall by a volunteer who asks how many pets they have and their size. The pet owners are then given a slip of paper to share with another volunteer, who helps fill the order at the tables. Meanwhile, other volunteers work to keep the tables filled from a supply closet with dry food, packaged in clear plastic bags, and canned food.

It’s an efficient but friendly process. Volunteers remember visitors from week to week and the pets they have at home. It’s also a process that has evolved as the pantry has grown since Trinity Church members Susan Hadl and Joan Wohlers helped start it a year and a half ago.

“When we first started, we used to twiddle our thumbs and wait for six or eight people,” Hadl said. “It’s really taken off.”

Bruce Wohlers, Joan Wohlers’ husband, said the pet pantry was originally open Thursdays and Saturdays.

“We started in this closet,” he said, pointing to a small coat closet off one of the church’s main entries. “We were in this closet for eight or nine months. We started getting to the point we couldn’t handle people and were crashing into weddings and funerals.”

The pantry relocated to another closet but soon outgrew that, as well, prompting the move into the fellowship hall, he said.

More than 100 people would leave the church Saturday morning with food for their pets. On April 22, the pet pantry served 109 visitors and provided food for 496 dogs and cats.

Gathering those weekly statistics is the task of Rachel Black, who meets people at the door with questions about what kinds of pets they have.

“I love it,” she said. “I’ve been doing it for more than a year. I wouldn’t miss it. The need is so great.”

Among Saturday’s visitors was Nadean Liska, who was picking up food for two adult dogs, a puppy and four cats.

“A co-worker told me about this place,” she said. “They’re great. If it wasn’t for them, I would really be scrounging for food for my pets.”

Liska has also brought pet food to the pantry in the past, said Joan Wohlers.

All the food is donated, Hadl said. Lawrence pet stores are supportive, as well as other donors, but the pantry’s supplies do sometimes become dangerously low. So far, it has never had to turn pet owners away, but donations are always needed and welcome, she said.

“If any person or business has something to share, we’ll be glad to pick it up,” she said. “It really is a great St. Francis kind of mission.”

Those want to donate pet food or money to support the pantry can call the church at 785-843-4150.