In 1982 several churches noted that a centralized area was needed to register and supply needy Ramona families with a basket of donated food at Christmas.  The idea took hold and resulted in a large surplus of food and clothing being donated by the residents of Ramona. 

In March 1983, at the request of the Ramona Ministerial Association, citizens held a community meeting to discuss how to best receive, process, and distribute an every increasing amount of donations. The Ramona Food & Clothes was officially established at this meeting and has been in operation since that time.

In a very short time the increasing amount of donations made it necessary to set up a thrift shop to further assist the needy families of Ramona by selling good quality donated clothing, furniture and household items at an affordable price.  The shop continually grew, resulting in several moves to ever larger rented facilities.  The organization was governed by an elected Board of Directors who were all volunteers.  The directors and an advisor from the Ramona Ministerial Association were responsible for the entire operation of the Ramona Food & Clothes Closet.