The Red Door Food Pantry with Ashley and Sean Davis

Hunger rarely looks like the stereotype. Sometimes it looks like a parent who works full-time but cannot make childcare and groceries fit in the same month. Sometimes it looks like grandparents raising grandchildren, a family navigating a health crisis, or someone who just lost a job and needs help for a season. Loving like Jesus means serving those who are the most vulnerable in real and tangible ways. 

In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with Ashley and Sean Davis about the real faces of food insecurity and why a food pantry can be a lifeline without ever stripping away dignity. Their story starts with a major health issue that forced Ashley to step back from a corporate banking career and ask a hard question: what kind of work actually helps people? This discerning question led them to sell their California home, move to Cartersville, Georgia, and search for a place where they could stop feeling anonymous and start building community. That search led them to The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, where everything “felt right,” and soon after to the Red Door Food Pantry, where Ashley became executive director in 2024. 

They dig into the measurable impact and the human impact and how The Red Door Food Pantry grew from a ministry of Ascension into a nonprofit while continuing distributions through the church, and serving thousands of households across Bartow County and beyond. They discuss improving access through technology, mobile pantry plans, and partnerships that bring mental health support, housing resources, health services, and recovery connections right to distribution days. Listen in for the full conversation. 

About the Red Door Food Pantry:
For decades, the food pantry was an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, and it distributed the same 8-10 items of food every week to about 30-50 people. Purchasing food at retail prices required the food pantry to use restricted funds to meet budgetary needs. Thus, the food pantry was “in the red,” with only about 10 months of operating expenses to fall back on. However, by joining the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) in 2013, the Red Door Food Pantry was able to buy food for about sixteen cents a pound– thus giving it greater buying power and by helping it attain solvency. In 2022, the Red Door Food Pantry was designated 501(c)(3) status as a public charity. Learn more and give here.

From the archives: Read an article from our diocese about the Red Door Food Pantry and partnerships, including our own Episcopal Community Foundation.

Transcript

Food Insecurity Affects Every Family

Ashley 0:00

I think what's interesting about food banks is the misconception that you do think that people that are the low poverty in that have a need, and that's who they're coming to receive help. But the people that come, they're different stories, um, they're different types of families, and I think that that's really important to understand that food insecurity affects everybody. Um, it could be just you've lost your job and you need assistance for that time.

Bishop Wright 0:39

Hello everyone, this is Bishop Rob Wright, and this is for people. Uh today we have a real treat. Uh, we have uh two members of one of our wonderful congregations in Cartersville, Georgia, uh Ashley and Sean Davis. Uh folks, welcome. I'm so glad that you could make time to be with us. I I bumped into these two folks at one of my regular Sunday visits in one of our congregations, again, Ascension Cartersville up in North Georgia. And uh, you know, one of the great gifts of the doing the work that I do is you bump into people who are actually doing the work of the gospel where they find themselves. And uh, and so I wanted to have Ashley and Sean on to talk a little bit about a ministry that they're engaged in called the Red Door Food Pantry and all the families that they're serving. But first, what really intrigued me uh guys was your story. So you're not native to Georgia, you moved from across the country uh to this town. So tell me a little bit about that Ashley.

Leaving Corporate Life After Surgery

Bishop Wright 1:40 Ashley 1:41

Um yes, um, well, in 2023, um I was um kind of hit with a health um issue where um I had to take time off of work and ultimately have a major surgery. Um during that time, I worked in finance. So I worked in a big bank and worked in corporate banking. Um, so of course, I as I moved up in the world, it was getting harder and harder to help people that really needed help. Um, so it was always that kind of that fork in the road for me. So during the time of me healing and taking that time, um, I kind of hit that fork in the road where I needed to make that decision of whether or not it was the right decision to move on or move forward. Um, so when I went to work, I went to work too soon. And I just remember going back into my office and then talking to me about my next role and the next path that they had in store for me. But the walls just got smaller and smaller. So I texted Sean and said, I'm I'm done. I don't think I want to do this anymore. So when I got home, we talked about it. And the first thing was is let's pray, let's talk about it. And then really, if it works, let's put our house up for the market and see if that actually does, if we get a bite, and then we'll go from there. Well, we reached out to a realtor who um has been interested in selling our house for quite some time. Um, so we did talk to him and explain kind of the situation that we were in, which was kind of unique because we didn't know where we wanted to go or what we were gonna do, but we were ready to leave California. And um, we ended up putting our house on the market. We didn't really tell many people, um, and it sold in two that day, sold in two days, really. Um and so then we were kind of stuck with the situation of what are we gonna do now?

Bishop Wright 3:57

So, how do you end up in Cartersville, Georgia? So, you know, we we prayed, we made a decision, and and here we go. And so Cartersville uh is very far away from California. So how do we get there? Sean, how do we get there?

Sean 4:12

Well, uh when we thought about where we wanted to take our journey, we had a bunch of different factors that we wanted to consider. So some of those were uh socioeconomic, some of those were demographic, and uh we had a couple

Moving To Cartersville For Community

Sean 4:30

acquaintances that lived uh here uh near Cartersville, and they said, you know, we really think that you would enjoy um the area, and we think that it would fit your needs. And so uh, you know, we were looking for um just some of these basic things to be fulfilled, uh basic desires. Uh we one of the big things we wanted was this idea of moving away from um sort of being anonymous within our uh local environment to really being able to infiltrate the environment uh more and make a bigger impact on the community. So um as we looked at everything that Cartersville had to offer, it seemed like uh it had most of the right pieces. And when we came here, we really saw that you know this is the type of community that we want to be involved in. We want to be able to know who our neighbors are and you know be active uh in different aspects of the community that it they were just harder to do in California. Uh there was sort of a little bit more of a disconnect in California between that personal life and your small family units versus the larger community and the impact that you make there.

Bishop Wright 6:01

Yeah. Yeah. And so you you you you turn up in Cartersville and then you end up in an Episcopal church. Is that right? Yes. Okay. So, so I mean, did it just feel right? I mean, uh the reason why I'm sort of belaboring this because uh I think it's so important. And when I talk to people, you know, people are on a journey. People are on a journey for meaning, people are on a journey for community, um, you know, people are trying to find a spiritual home. And you guys found all of that. Um, and so you turn up to church, and and how long uh are you in church before you decide that this red door pantry, red door food pantry work is your work?

Ashley 6:43

Well, it was interesting because I just remember having a conversation with a friend of mine, and we were talking, and she was asking me why what I wanted to do, because we were I was kind of trying to figure out job-wise what I wanted to do, and I didn't really know what to where to go and how to start, but I know that I wanted to be a voice for people who didn't have that voice for themselves, and I know that it was a bit of a challenge being a new person in a community that didn't know who I was. So um we did hear about the Episcopal Church. Um, at that point, I only heard bits and pieces of the pantry, but I had heard that I needed to go and um hear the message because at that point we had no community, we really had no friends. Um, it was just a very small group of people. So we were really trying to find a community that we belonged in, so we didn't know where it was. And being in the South, there's a churches on every corner, and so we didn't know even where to start. Um, but we do remember hearing somebody say you should go to the Episcopal Church and see how that was. So we walked in and I had never been in an Episcopal church before, neither had Sean. And um it just felt right. I just felt it did feel right. The music, um, the message, it was what it kind of brought together why we had come, the message. Um, so it was kind of scratching that surface again of why we came revisiting. And then literally a couple of days later, my friend reached out to me and said, the Red Door food pantry is hiring that you just went to that church, you should apply for this position. And then I did. And so that was kind of the whole thing. Well, wow, here it is. I was just at this church. Um, it felt right. Um, it's out of my comfort zone. I've never been an you know executive director for a food pantry before. Um, but I talked to Sean about it. I we again I prayed about it, and then I applied. And then lo and behold, here we are now.

Bishop Wright 9:09

And and what year was this that you uh that you interviewed and uh and got the job as the executive director?

Ashley 9:16

Um I applied um in 2024,

Scaling The Red Door Food Pantry

Ashley 9:20

um, and I started July 1st of 2024.

Bishop Wright 9:24

Phenomenal. Okay. So now let's get down the brass tack. So so what is this food pantry? And tell me about you know, your your your past is banking. So tell me about the how much the how many, you know, what's what's measurable here? Because I was really blown away that this thing is on the grow. I mean, I'm sorry about that. We have to have things called food pantries, that there is so much food insecurity. I'm sorry about that, but I give thanks to God that there are places like this food pantry and food pantries and clothing banks and lots of other things, resources for people who are having a hard time keeping body and soul together. Tell me the the how many and the how much.

Ashley 10:05

So um when I started um the Red Door Food Pantry, it had started from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. Um, it has now grown into its non-owned nonprofit. We still um distribute out of the Episcopal Church um twice a week. Um, when I first started in um 2024, we were up to 600 households each month. Um, we are currently up to 900 households currently at this point. Um at the end of 2025, um, we well, the year of 2025, we saw a tremendous growth and a need um within our community, not only Cartersville, um, but northwest Georgia um in itself. And from there, we ended up distributing out 335,000 pounds of food in 2025 and helping 10,407 households, which is about almost 30,000 people. Um, and 95% of who we are helping come from Bartow County. Um, the other 5% come from the surrounding counties um outside that we're servicing. Um, we are a partner of the Atlanta Community Food Bank. So something that I do love about that, and it kind of brings back the idea of the red door is when you sign up with one pantry, you have access to all of the pantries. Um, we have a pantry pass. So now we're kind of utilizing modern day technology to really get to those households and get to individuals that cannot get to the pantry physically, um, but get access to food. Um, so for us, when you sign up, you can get food every two weeks. Um, so from the time that I started, we have distributed out two days a week. Now we go once a month to Yoharley. Um, we're getting ready to start another mobile drive-thru mobile pantry that will open the distribution to more um members of the community and different aspects and different areas. Um, so the idea is to get to places that where individuals can't necessarily get access to food, grocery stores, general stores, things like that. So we can make it just a little bit easier. And the idea is not just giving them access to food, but also getting other members of the community, other organizations that have services and give needs, you know, services to individuals like mental health, homelessness, um, health, um, general health needs, um, recovery uh for addiction. So we have, you know, worked partnerships with those individual organizations, and those organizations come during distribution time, and then they can give you know services to individuals that have a need as well. Um, so we're really just trying to make sure that we're available when individuals have that need.

Bishop Wright 13:36

Tell me, uh either you or Sean, tell me some, tell me uh, you know, tell the listeners a few stories about some of the people that you've encountered. My my guess is that this is not just sort of um, you know, people trapped in cycles of poverty, uh, although that may represent some portion of the people that you're serving. Uh this this is also the people who are uh taking advantage of these resources are also people who are working uh perhaps even more than one job, families trying to hold things together. What are some of the stories you could tell us?

Ashley 14:08

Um oftentimes all of our, I think what's interesting about um food banks is the misconception that you do think that people that are the low poverty in that um have a need, and that's who they're coming to receive help. But the people that come, they're different stories, um, they're different types of families, um, maybe one person in a household up to 12, um, where they have their take grandparents taking care of grandchildren. You know, you have one parent that can't, they can't afford child care. So now you have instead of two members working, you have one parent working because just the cost of living in general has increased. And I think that that's really important to understand that it's um food insecurity affects everybody. Um, it could be just you've lost your job and you need assistance for that time. Um, and so I think that that's important to stress and know that people that do come to our pantry are all types. So we do have the bookmobile come and help with children and give them a free book every time, you know, once um a quarter they come. And we talk to families that are struggling with health issues, um, that don't know where to go, and oftentimes wear their area, um, their safe place, um, where they can just have a friend and really know that they're seen for that moment, um, whether it is for five minutes or 10 minutes. I know most of their stories. They know our story and where we come from, that our children, um, our grandchild, you know, those things become a family. Um, so it just becomes more of a place of need, but really just a place of care and dignity. Uh, and I think that that's really something that we've tried to hone in. Um, it's not just one story or one person, it's everybody that we talk to. Um, it's one, it's

Stories Of Dignity, Hope, And Faith

Ashley 16:10

like a family reunion. Every two weeks they come. If I don't show up, they think something's wrong and they check in. So it really has become that. And I know for Sean, um, you were kind of behind the scenes. So sometimes he doesn't get to see some of the households and patrons that we help, but we do help a program that is called the RAP program, and that's a rehabilitation program. Um, and that is for individuals that are incarcerated, so they come behind the scenes and kind of help us with restocking and things like that. And that's kind of a moment for us to kind of get to minister and really tend to talk, not really minister, but just really get to talk to people that have had a hard time. And I think Sean has more of a connection there with those individuals and kind of walk through that process with them. But we get to see them graduate the program as well. So I'll let you kind of talk about it.

Bishop Wright 17:05

Yeah, Sean, what's this been like for you connecting with folks?

Sean 17:09

Yeah, um, well, you know, I think it's kind of uh the pantry, my experience in the pantry, along with my experience in the church, has really focused on this idea that there's uh people who have the same mission as you, the same goals, and connecting with those individuals in a way where it uh magnifies our strengths and our abilities. So when we talk about ascension, uh Ascension is a really kind of unique uh church because it's a smaller church community, but everyone is so talented and just comes with so many different things to offer uh to the surrounding environment and to each other. And so that's one of those really nice connections that you make. And in the pantry, it's the same thing. Uh Ashley mentioned the rap program, and that's a group of people who are currently incarcerated, they're working towards their release, they're getting involved in the community in a variety of different ways. I've had the pleasure of working with them multiple different times through the pantry, and what I found in talking to those guys, every time I talk to them, is I walk away learning something new. I walk away with a feeling and an understanding of how hopeful they are for their future and the impact that we're making in a positive way.

Bishop Wright 18:47

You know, that's the thing about it. You know, God's weird economy, uh, when we take up this good work uh uh of giving, whether it's food or clothing or compassion, um, whatever we're giving out, however that looks, we end up being, it sort of comes back to us, bounces back to us, you know, a couple fold, and then we feel a new buoyancy, a new clarity, a new gratitude. It's it's I've had that same experience over the years. As I listen to you two talk, I mean, I I, you know, the Bible verse that comes to comes to mind is, you know, the 25th chapter of Matthew, which is which is, you know, as you take care of the least of these, uh, you take care of me, Jesus said. So Jesus is saying, I am those people. There is no space between those people on the sharp edge of need and me. And uh, you know, I'm sure you've heard that before, but I mean, I just I see it, I saw it in you that in that church visit uh where I met you, and I I hear it in more detail now. Uh and I think this is what the world needs. Um, you know, the church talks a whole lot, and and you know, some of that is important. Uh, but the doing, we forget that Jesus was a local phenomena. He was a local dude in a local neighborhood, you know, doing healings and and encouraging and including people who otherwise were not included, and uh, and helping people understand that God is real and God is near. And so I'm I'm just so glad to see this expression uh um in the Diocese of Atlanta in Northwest Georgia. And I'm so grateful to you all, to you too, and to all the people that uh are in your network. I I I wonder I wonder what you would say to Ashley and and Sean of two years ago, uh, now that you know what you know and now that you've experienced what you experienced, what would you say back to those young people who took that bold step uh and and left wonderful careers and and you know ended up in a uh a smallish town in northwest Georgia? What could you say to them now?

Sean 20:53

Uh I would say put your faith in the idea that something greater than you is on the way.

Bishop Wright 21:00

What would you add to that, Ashley?

Ashley 21:02

Letting go of control and what you don't know and kind of putting faith in God um really is the key to things. So I think in the times that I felt them where maybe it wasn't the right decision, I went right back to that and just kind of let go of my uncertainties. And it did work out exactly the way that it was supposed to. But just so I just not give up. Don't give up on the faith of it because it will work out.

Bishop Wright 21:32

You know, I love that. Um, you know, that's really the best sermon, is that I talk about God's trustworthiness. You know, there's a trustworthiness to God that you you you you won't know until you take the leap, until you take the step. Uh, you know, it's it's intellectual up until that point. But then when you take the step, then you really sort of realize that there is a uh, I like to say there's a buoyancy there and uh and there's an abundance to life that that comes. So have you found the community that you were looking for? Uh you said you wanted to not be anonymous, you wanted to be part and parcel. Have you found it?

Ashley 22:10

I believe so. I do. Um, it's interesting because I talked to you know my aunt in California often, quite often, and you know, she says to me, you know, you were happy where you were at here, you know, in California. She said, but there is just an amount of sunshine that comes your way where you're at, right? And I can see where you're where you are where you should be. And as much as that frustrates them, because they don't, they didn't understand what we were doing and we didn't have the full answer, it they're seeing it, and they're seeing it through how we're living and and the peace that we're having in our days. And it's not easy every day, but uh, we are reminded that the path that we're taking is the one that we should be on.

Bishop Wright 23:04

I love

Donate, Volunteer, And Get Help

Bishop Wright 23:05

it. I love it. Well, there are lots of people listening, and uh if they wanted to learn more or to help out uh in some way, how could they be in touch? Is there a website you could say?

Ashley 23:18

Yes, they can go to reddoorfood.com and they can reach out to me directly.

Bishop Wright 23:23

And can they make donations there?

Ashley 23:26

Absolutely, and they can sign up for food services and they can sign up for volunteering as well.

Bishop Wright 23:32

That's fantastic. Well, I thank God for both of you, and I thank God for the faith that you followed that got you to this place. And I know I speak on behalf of the 30 some odd thousand people uh that you're helping. Uh, we're so grateful for uh for both of you and for the good work that God has entrusted to you. Thanks very much.

Ashley 23:54

Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Bishop Wright 23:56

Yeah, God bless you.