Feed the Hungry This Christmas

I decided that a plug for our church’s food pantry drive fits nicely into the purpose of this blog.  And the holidays are always a time where those less fortunate than ourselves (at least monetarily) are in even greater need for our generosity.

Something I’ve tried to incorporate into our lives is a continual thought process of service.  Instead of serving once a year at a shelter or other mission organization, I want to make it a lifestyle.  And one way to do that is to purchase nonperishable food for our church’s food pantry EVERY time I do a major grocery shopping trip (i.e. twice a month).  This makes thinking about those in need a regular occurrence in my life, rather than just doing it once and “getting it out of the way”.  It’s important for me to have a lifelong, continual perspective of trying to cancel out poverty since it is such a major issue.

Jake and I helped serve at Mission For All Nations this summer, our area’s largest food pantry.  (I believe they said it was the largest in Nebraska, but don’t quote me on that.)  It was an eye-opening experience.  And they have a great process.  I’d definitely recommend that ministry to anyone wanting to serve our area’s poor.  http://www.missionfan.com/

In any case, our church’s is just one of the food pantries available in our area, but we do serve an increasing population of families in need.  Since my husband is over this particular ministry area in our church, he keeps me well-informed about the status of the food pantry and how much it’s being used.  And it’s definitely being used!!  We keep running out of food a lot faster than ever before.

That said, here is a plug for the holiday food drive (taken directly from the website):

Our food pantry serves church members and members of our community when they are experiencing financial hardship. Since January, we have served more than 500 people - an average of 4 families each week! Thank you for sharing in this ministry through your generosity!

This Christmas we want to do something special for the people who use our food pantry. Along with your donation of food, we are asking people to bring $10 gift cards to a store that sells perishable food. Throughout December we'll give this extra gift to everyone who uses the food pantry.

Needed items can be found below. Please bring donations to StoneBridge anytime during office hours or on Sundays.

Items Currently Needed:
Meals:
Boxed Meals (Hamburger / Tuna / Chicken Helper / etc)
• Cans of Chicken and Tuna
Boxed Rice Meals (Rice-a-Roni / etc)
Macaroni & Cheese / Easy Mac
Spaghetti Sauce / Pasta
Canned Meals (Spaghetti O?s / Ravioli / Beef Stew / etc)
Canned Soup / Soup-to-Go

Breakfast Items:
Boxed Cereal / Oatmeal
Pancake Mix / Syrup

Other Items:
Peanut Butter / Jelly
Canned Vegetables / Canned Fruit
Condiments (Ketchup / Mustard / etc)
Snack Pack Items (Pudding / Cheese & Crackers / etc)

http://www.stonebridgeonline.net/members/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&Itemid=137

I'm happy to say that our small group is participating in this food drive.  You should too!