When a Ryder truck loaded with food pulled up outside a church in Wilkinsburg, there were plenty of hands to help unload it.

The truck was eight hours late, but the people waiting weren't complaining too much.

The food was not a handout, but it was a help. The people in line had paid $25 each for about $50 to $70 worth of food, including, chicken breasts, pasta, hamburger, canned soup and pumpkin pie for dessert.

The food comes from the national network Angel Food Ministries, which has received a $6.7 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand the program. The local host organizations -- here there are three, including Wilkinsburg Community Ministries -- receive $1 from the Ministries for every $25 box of food they sell; $24 goes back to Angel Food. People who want to order food put in their orders during the first week of the month and receive it a couple of weeks later.

Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Volunteers Keith Bennett and Robert Harris, both of Wilkinsburg, bring food from the truck outside South Avenue Methodist Church on Mulberry Street in Wilkinsburg on Saturday afternoon. Angel Food Ministries distributes groceries to poor people in Wilkinsburg at a discount with no questions asked. The basic $25 food box can feed a family of four for about a week. It is distributed by members of Wilkinsburg Community Ministries at the church. Click photo for larger image.

The steep discount on about a week's worth of groceries for Ella Payne's family helps. Miss Payne waited in the hallway of South Methodist Church with her 1-year-old son, Elijiah, sleeping in her lap as the truck pulled onto the sidewalk outside. Miss Payne, 32, of East Liberty, also has a daughter and is a single mother. She works in a nursing home as a certified nurse's assistant.

"I think it's wonderful," she said about the low-cost groceries. "On my income, it's hard."

The food is not just for poor people. Some of the people there Saturday were members of the middle class. Outside in the parking lot, the food was being loaded into late model minivans and SUVs.

Angel Food Ministries started in Georgia, helping to feed 34 families. It is a nonprofit, faith-based program that has expanded to 37 states. Its Web site says the program gives church members experience offering rewarding service to others and "provides discounted food not only for those that need it, but for any others who appreciate deep discounts on quality groceries."

The food distribution at the South Avenue Methodist Church is organized by the Wilkinsburg Community Ministries, which also provides volunteers for the distribution. On Saturday, many of the young workers were doing their court-required community service while outfitted by the courts with electronic monitoring bracelets.

Patricia Jones, who works for Wilkinsburg Community Ministries, said the workers donate their time, but also put in orders for food from the distribution.

Miss Jones, who has a teenager at home and a child in college, said the reduced price of the groceries helps her budget.

Florence Pickels, 91, of Forest Hills, was at the church to pick up her order with her granddaughter, Holly Miller, 25, who lives with her. Mrs. Pickels had heard about the program through her church. She said she was skeptical about the groceries at first, but found they were of good quality.

There were 80 orders handed out Saturday. Ray Tolbert, of Wilkinsburg Community Ministries, said he was trying to increase the number of people who use his site to obtain food so that he can get a truck dedicated to make the run to his site. He said if he had his own truck, he could avoid the problem that happened Saturday.

The truck was late because it went to Allentown, Lehigh County, before going to Wilkinsburg.

When it arrived in Wilkinsburg, the people who had ordered food were lined up.

"We started the Angel Food community ministry for those whose money's kind of tight," said Ron Nesbit, 57, of Stanton Heights, who works for Wilkinsburg Community Ministries. "It's just a way for us to help out."

To order food from Wilkinsburg Community Ministries, call 412-241-8072.

Other distribution sites are in Stanton Heights United Methodist Church and at the Evangelical Congregational Church in McKeesport.