Angel Food program helps hundreds of families save
Published: December 14, 2007
Members of Richland Road Church of Christ heard about Angel Food ministries by word of mouth from a church member whose mother participates in the low-cost food program in Alabama.
Matt Dahm, family life minister and coordinator of the outreach ministry team at the church, said once the opportunity for outreach was discussed by church leaders, a decision was made to further investigate the possibility of bringing the Angel Food opportunity to Marion.
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A team of volunteers went to Mansfield to a host church site to check out what is needed to bring the project to fruition.
“We went over on a distribution day to get the feel for the ministry,” Dahm said.
The ministry, states a press release, takes compassion to the next level by providing dignity based outreach - a sustainable service model that brings support back to the sponsoring church, and moves people from crisis mode to regular budgeting and healthier nutrition.
Once the decision was made to move forward, Dahm said there are folks in the church who have found this to be their “niche in outreach ministry.” Laurie Starcher and Dixie Hines are two of those members.
“It’s our way of serving,” Hines said. “The men can serve in the church but there’s very little the women can do to give back.”
“I love to see people’s faces when they see what’s in the menu,” Starcher added, noting that a price increase from $25 to $30 goes into effect with the January 2008 distribution. “We’ve had no complaints with the price increase. It doesn’t matter what you make to partici
pate in this - from no job to making thousands a month - you can still do it.”
Dahm said each Angel Food unit includes 17-18 items each month - most of them frozen foods but some fresh foods, as well. The Richland Road church has a team that drives a rental truck to Westerville to pick up the food on distribution day and another team that helps unload the truck and organize the food items for distribution.
Although the units are expressed as “sold,” the church makes no money from the sale of the food boxes, Dahm said. When the local ministry first began, their monthly distribution was about 50-60 units and currently now is more than 200.
On distribution day (which is this Saturday this month), the menu for the next month is available and folks can make their next month’s purchase that day, relieving them of the need to make an additional trip to make the next month’s purchase. Dahm did stress that those who make a purchase must bring a box or bags to put the food into and teens from the church are available to carry it to their car for them.
For Cathy Parker, learning the outreach would be available in Marion was a godsend. She said she had seen a flyer with the Angel Food ministry but the host church was in Marysville. She said she and several of her friends would purchase a basic unit, then she would drive to Marysville and pick it up on distribution day.
“I was so glad when I learned Richland Road (Church of Christ) was going to do it,” Parker said. “The quality of food is wonderful.”
Parker, a former teacher now on disability due to several health concerns and a single mother with a 4-year-old daughter, said stretching the budget to meet all needs can be difficult. In addition to the basic unit, she also sometimes purchases specialty boxes which she also described as “good deals.”
“It (the ministry) is just what it says,” she said. “Angel food.”
Spending two or three days a month both selling and the day of distribution is not a problem for Hines.
“It’s a blessing,” she said. “It’s a great way to help our community. I can feel like I’ve done something for God, for my church and for the community.”
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