Churches partner with national group to help feed needy
Published: April 30, 2007
The second Saturday of each month has become an exciting day for Jennifer Childs and her three boys. A single mother, Childs used to struggle to put a decent meal on the table.
Now she gets help filling her refrigerator from the Angel Food Ministry at Life Pointe Community Church of the Nazarene in Mooresville.
“You just don’t know how comforting it is to know I will have food for my children each month,” said Childs, who lives in the small Morgan County town of Brooklyn.
The Angel Food ministry is part of a national program that provides a tub filled with $60 to $70 worth of meat, vegetables, frozen meals, pastas and soups. Recipients pay just $25 for the tub, which contains about 15 to 25 items.
Two other West suburban-area churches — Southwest Church of the Nazarene in Decatur Township and Spirit of Life Church in Pike Township — are host sites for the program based in Monroe, Ga. It is geared toward elderly, low-income families and single mothers.
Each tub of food will last a family of four about one to two weeks and a senior citizen the entire month. Libby Carpenter, operations leader for Life Pointe’s ministry, said church members usually buy 10 to 12 tubs, or units, to have available for free to needy families or to donate to Sheltering Wings, a women’s shelter in Danville.
Childs said the quality of the food is only topped by the money savings and generosity of others.
“It’s just a wonderful opportunity for those out there who do struggle,” she said.
Life Pointe’s ministry began in November with 35 families. Mostly through word of mouth, that number has swelled to more than 140 families participating in April, said William Blaschke, who heads the program at Life Pointe.
“It’s just so easy for people,” Carpenter said. “They can order either in person or over the phone, and we box it up for them.”
Lee Watkins, Plainfield, began regularly donating to the program after hearing about the ministry through his sister-in-law who attends the church. He usually buys four to eight units of food each month, giving a few to family members and leaving the rest at the church for anyone who can’t afford it.
“The first time I did that, Bill said a couple saw the sign at the church but didn’t have any money,” Watkins said. “One of the extra units I bought was given to them. It made me feel so good to know I helped a person out there that didn’t have anything.”
Recipients have to go to the church during each monthly distribution day to pick up their food. Volunteers sort all the food and help recipients fill their boxes. A menu for the following month and a Christian newsletter called “The Servant” are included with their food.
“Being a part of this is the most wonderful thing in the world, because you see how truly appreciative people can be,” Carpenter said. “They are surprised with the tub of food they take out of here for the price.”
Though attracting new members isn’t the ministry’s main goal, organizers say it has served that purpose. Carpenter met one couple who said they had never stepped into a church in their lives prior to purchasing food from the ministry.
Pat Oglesby, Angel Food distribution coordinator for Spirit of Life, can recall similar moments since her church became a host site last May.
“It serves the community and breaks down barriers because it doesn’t matter what economic level you are at,” she said. “We had a single mother of five come in here and say it was the best thing to happen to her in a long time. She bought four units and the last thing I heard her saying as she left was, ‘What a relief .’ “
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