Beyond loaves and fishes
Published: April 4, 2006
A line of people snaked through the Howard Christian Church, out the door and down the sidewalk as hundreds of families waited for boxes of food on a recent Saturday morning.
In the next county over, at West Side United Methodist Church in Clearfield, the scene was repeated as people lined up to claim 1,330 boxes of food.
The churches are distribution points for Angel Food Ministries, a Georgia-based nonprofit organization that puts about $50 worth of food — enough to feed four people for a week — in the hands of people for $25.
“Everybody eats,” said Barb Snyder, founder and director of Angel Food at Howard Christian Church. “That’s the nice thing about this program: If you eat, you qualify.”
Although it has created a problem for the Howard church — it’s violating a zoning regulation by distributing the food — Angel Food Ministries is enjoying a phenomenal start in this region.
“I’m amazed,” said Dorothy Jordan, of Spring Mills, as she waited in line in Howard. “I’m thankful they do have some of this stuff. With the cost of living nowadays, it does help immensely.”
Howard Christian Church became the first Angel Food distribution site in Centre County in November, when about 90 boxes of food were delivered. By March, the number of orders placed by people in Centre County and neighboring areas had grown to 721.
“It’s obvious that the need is there,” Snyder said. “I’m glad we can serve Howard. There’s such a broad range of people from all over the place that really need the help.”
While the Howard church is currently the only Angel Food participant in the county, the demand for the program could change that. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Bellefonte is looking into becoming an Angel Food distribution point, and a Philipsburg site is being considered, too.
In Clearfield, the Rev. Jay Jones, pastor of West Side United Methodist Church, described the church’s first distribution day on March 25 as “unfathomable.” He said it was the largest first order for food boxes ever placed by a Pennsylvania distribution center.
Feeding faith
Angel Food Ministries was founded in 1994 by the Revs. Joe and Linda Wingo of Emmanuel Praise Church in Monroe, Ga. In its first month of operation, it provided food for 34 families. By February 2006, it had provided food for 340,000 families in 32 states, according to its Web site.
The program’s success garnered it an almost $7 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year. The loan is part of USDA Rural Development’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, and Angel Food Ministries used the money to expand its freezers and coolers at its Georgia warehouse.
One Saturday a month since November, a truck loaded with boxes of food coming from that Georgia warehouse has rolled into Howard. On a recent morning, the truck arrived about 4 a.m.
By midmorning, a line of people who placed orders had formed, starting outside the church and continuing through the first floor and down a flight of stairs to the assembly pickup line in the basement.
About 60 volunteers kept the line moving, signing people in and helping them carry boxes and laundry baskets full of chicken, pork chops, french fries, meatball sandwiches and vegetables to their cars.
“I just think it’s fun,” said volunteer Betsy Gettig, of Howard, adding that the volunteers like to keep the atmosphere relaxed and comfortable. “It’s a great way to really help the needs of the community.”
Nancy Ishler, of Bellefonte, said she thinks it’s a good deal, including the popcorn chicken she picked up for her grandchildren.
“I think they ought to have more of (them) in different towns,” Ishler said. “It would help out a lot of people that lost their jobs.”
Douglas Klein, an Angel Food spokesman, said there are many situations in which elderly people and those without jobs can not afford the price of meat and other groceries. The program aims to address that by making high-quality food available to everyone.
Organizers in central Pennsylvania said that is especially important because of the difficult economic times some areas are facing, combined with high fuel costs.
Klein said the food in the 400 trucks that roll out to distribution centers across the country each month comes from top U.S. companies, such as Tyson Chicken. He said Angel Food Ministries gets the food at a low price because it buys such large amounts, and it passes those savings on to the families who buy it.
For every 50 units of food that are ordered, the host sites receive one box of food to give away to those who can’t afford the $25 cost.
Angels take many forms
The Rev. Frank Skies said the Church of the Good Shepherd in Bellefonte is looking into starting the program. While Howard is nearby, he said, there are many in the Bellefonte area who could benefit from the program.
If the response is close to the one at West Side United Methodist Church in Clearfield, the program will be a success.
“From our perspective, it was an awesome experience as a congregation to be part of it,” Jones said of West Side’s first distribution.
He said the day was not without a few “kinks.” The delivery truck, due by 5 a.m., did not arrive until 11:30 a.m.
But the volunteers, he said, “did not miss a beat.” They divided the list of people who had placed the 1,330 orders and called all of them to spread word of the delay.
“It was just an incredible effort all around,” he said. “What was really heartwarming for me was to be there when the truck arrived.”
Long lines of people passed the food from one person to the next.
The church began the program after getting a call from the pastor of the United Methodist Charge in Brockport, north of Clearfield. That church had begun distributing food and was seeing people from Clearfield driving 45 minutes to pick up their order, said Margaret Daub, West Side’s mission and hunger coordinator.
Daub said that the response on West Side’s opening day was overwhelming but that the church isn’t turning anyone away.
“God gave us a ministry,” she said. “We know there’s a need, and we’re trying to answer the call.”
Daub said the program volunteers are looking into starting a distribution point in Philipsburg. “We know there’s a need east of us,” she said.
Church and state
In Howard, along with a skyrocketing number of people signing up for the program, organizers are facing a zoning violation.
“We have so many people that are dependent on it and looking forward to it,” said Brian Snyder, associate minister at the church and Barb Snyder’s husband.
Borough zoning officer Dan Brownson said the area where the church sits is zoned residential. He said that according to the borough’s attorney, the fact that the money the church receives for the food does not stay with the church creates a problem.
“They’re doing a business in an area that’s not zoned for that,” Brownson said. “That’s basically what it comes down to.”
But Brownson didn’t seem eager to shut the operation down. He said the church is applying for a zoning variance, and if it’s received within 30 days, everything will be fine.
Howard Mayor Jackie Williams watched the March distribution from across the street, wanting to see the operation first hand.
“I think the program is a benefit to the community, and that the people who are doing it right now are a wonderful group of people who, in my eyes, seem to have things under control,” he said.
The Snyders and others are hoping it will work out.
“I can’t imagine telling all these people, ‘I can’t do this for you next month.’ It just breaks my heart,” Barb Snyder said last Saturday, as people carrying empty laundry baskets and boxes waited in line for their food.
She found out about the program while visiting a friend in South Carolina.
“I thought what an awesome ministry to bring to our community,” she said.
Now, she and other organizers are hoping it can continue. “We’re all being very optimistic about it,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Wes McElray.
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