Every Friday morning, a group of volunteers files into Amazing Grace Food Pantry on Parker Road in Wylie to stock shelves, clean the facility and prepare for the next day's rush. The pantry calls them the Friday Crew.

No one gets paid.

The all-volunteer nonprofit, founded in 2006, distributes more than 20,000 pounds of food and household goods each month to families across Collin and Rockwall counties. On Saturdays, when doors open at 8 a.m., each client leaves with an average of 100 pounds of groceries. The Friday Crew's job is making sure those shelves are full when the first family walks in.

Amazing Grace Food Pantry highlighted the group on social media Thursday, Aug. 20, noting that crew members arrive early each week and work entirely as volunteers. The pantry has no paid staff at all.


The scale of need is clear in the numbers. On a single Saturday in September 2025, the pantry served more than 1,400 people. Its monthly client count has reached at least 1,600, according to the organization's online profile.

In a June post on the pantry's LinkedIn page, volunteer Mike Shea was quoted saying it's "always exciting" when new members join. After their Friday shifts, crew members have been known to gather at Landon's Winery in Wylie for lunch, a tradition the pantry noted on the same page.

The pantry's community ties extend well beyond the Friday Crew. Volunteers from New Hope Church spent time in July cleaning and maintaining the facility. Employees of North Texas Municipal Water District in Wylie donated 714 pounds of dry goods in May. And the pantry was among the beneficiaries of the Taste of Wylie event on May 8, which featured 40 restaurants and directed all proceeds to area food pantries.

Amazing Grace Food Pantry is located at 1711 Parker Road, Wylie. Residents interested in volunteering can show up Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. or Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. More information is available at amazinggracepantry.org or by calling (972) 292-7241.

Upcoming community calendar: The pantry's next Saturday client service runs Aug. 22 from 8 a.m. to noon at 1711 Parker Road, Wylie. Volunteer shifts are available every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the times listed above.