Joy Gomes, a 45-year-old Wareham native, has been searching for a job ever since an illness following the birth of her child prevented her from working full-time.

She has a family of five, and though she gets food stamps, Gomes is running low on them by the end of the month, she said.

About seven months ago, Gomes started visiting Damien's Place, a food pantry located off Cranberry Highway in East Wareham, to supplement her food stamps and help her through the end of the month.

"There's a lot of people who are either having hard times, lost their jobs, homeless, and this really is a Godsend for them," Gomes said.

Damien's Place celebrated 20 years of helping those in need on April 29 with a luncheon for more than 100 volunteers in Acushnet.

"Volunteers … have made this possible for 20 years," said Carol Cordeiro, secretary of the organization.

Gomes herself has been a volunteer for 2 months. On a recent Saturday morning, Gomes was busy behind the service counter, stacking canned goods on the shelves and giving clients their requested items.

Letting clients choose their own items is a key part of how Damien's Place operates, said Father Gabriel Healy, co-founder of the pantry.

"We let them pick what they want and tell what they don't want," he said. It kind of gives them a feeling of self-worth."

Larry Robert, a 55-year-old Marion resident who has been volunteering for two years, said that letting the clients choose has an added benefit.

"A lot of people say, 'You know, I don't need that. Leave that for someone else.' So there's generosity for people who are here, in clients," Robert said.

Damien's Place serves about 700 families per month, which adds up to about 2,000 individuals, according to Cordeiro. About 8% of its clients are seniors, with the rest spread out between families and individuals under 64 years of age.

Food is given out in seven-day supplies. Anything more long-term would be too much of a financial burden on the pantry, Cordeiro said.

Damien's Place serves 14 designated areas from New Bedford to Buzzards Bay.

Clients who are residents of those areas are allowed to seek help from the pantry as long as they bring proof of residence.

One thing clients do not have to bring is proof that they are in need.

"When they come in, we don't have a lot of questions for them. Other places, they belittle you … and ask, 'Why are you coming here? You can get another job.' I don't think that's helping people," said Healy. "We don't take their dignity away. It's very hard for people to come in and ask, so you have to try to make it as pleasant as possible."

Healy, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, co-founded the pantry with Father Thomas McElroy 20 years ago.

Healy already had experience with pantries before Damien's Place. Prior to moving into the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center on Great Neck Road in Wareham, Healy started his own pantry, which is still running, called Gabriel's Place in Harwich.

Healy and McElroy first opened the pantry in a small garage on Plymouth Road.

Facing complaints from neighbors about too many cars visiting the pantry and the problem of parking, the pantry then moved to a community center on Red Brook Road.

The same problem caused Damien's Place to move into the much larger warehouse facility off of Cranberry Highway.

Damien's Place got a large walk-in freezer about five years ago, allowing the organization to give clients fresh food such as eggs, fruit, and milk, in addition to nonperishable items.

The pantry does not do any advertising, said Healy. Information about it spreads through word of mouth.

Major donors include the United Way, Project Bread, the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, and Wareham's Community and Economic Development Authority. Local grocery stores donate bread, and volunteers donate both food and time.

One of the biggest sources of Damien's Place donations is the U.S. Postal Service's "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive, in which residents leave nonperishable bags of food to be picked up by mail carriers. This year's "Stamp Out Hunger" event will take place on May 12.

In the current economic climate, the need for Damien's Place is greater now than ever, said Cordeiro.

"There's more unemployment, especially now, we've had clients come in that were previous donors in the past," said Cordeiro, adding that clients tell her "I never thought I'd be on this side of this line."

Damien's Place is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The pantry is located at 3065 Cranberry Highway, B20 in the rear. The pantry is always in need of volunteers and donations of money and nonperishable foods, such as hot and cold cereals, pancake mix and syrup, rice, soups, canned vegetables, tuna fish, and juices. For more information, contact Damien's Place at 508-295-3486.