In the Beginning. Fr. Gray Temple, rector of St. Patrick’s, was known for his generosity in giving money to anyone who needed it. Thus, a group was formed by Anita Beaty, Director of Task Force for the Homeless and St. Patrick’s parishioner, to survey, evaluate, and respond to the frequent requests for assistance made by people in need from the surrounding community. Sprung from this desire to help others, Malachi’s Storehouse was born. The name, Malachi’s Storehouse, is credited to parishioner Kitty Dahlberg, based on the Bible passage from Malachi 3:10. (Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it). This Bible verse has proven to be prophetic – God has always provided enough for Malachi’s.

Malachi’s main purpose has always been to provide food to anyone who needs it. Malachi’s client base began small, with about 20 to 30 families coming for groceries on a Wednesday. In the beginning, the food for distribution was primarily donated by Kroger and St. Pat’s parishioners, who would collect canned goods for the pantry.

Malachi’s became a partner agency of the Atlanta Community Food Bank in mid ‘90’s. This partnership gave Malachi’s access to more food. Our volunteers would drive to downtown Atlanta once a week to shop for food, load their cars, drive back to Malachi’s and unload it. This process continued for 10 years or so. As our client base grew and the amount of food we needed doubled, the Atlanta Community Food Bank began delivering our orders every week to the great relief of our volunteers. Today we receive about 3 pallets of food from the ACFB every Tuesday, where a team of 10 volunteers unloads and stores the food.