Foodbanking

So much has happened since I last blogged. I need to get better at keeping everyone updated…

I am currently co-administrator of a foodbank  at our church alongside the pastor Alan Brand which is helping 30 families every week and continuing to increase in capacity. Here’s the story about how this happened.

As I mentioned before, this summer a local foodbank charity that operated at our church had to shut its doors due to lack of funding. When it shut, the church offered to continue to open its doors at the same time every week for people to come in and chat over a cup of coffee or tea. We were hoping to continue the food help, but had no guarantee for the people who needed it. The church members began to donate food, and every week we had just enough to give to those who needed it. Usually we would give out 8 or 10 bags of food to people who came in and asked for help. One week, only 2 bags were donated, and I was concerned about the need not being filled but decided to trust God and give thanks anyway. That day, only 2 bags were needed.

In October the English have something called Harvest Celebration, where everyone gives food to their schools and churches to be given to those in need. We received a decent amount from our church, but none from schools in the area. The week after harvest, however, we began to get calls from different churches and organizations in the area asking if they could give us out of their surplus! Around this time as well, a local bread company decided to start donating 40 free loaves of bread every week!

About a week later, someone posted on our town’s facebook page asking if there was a foodbank for Thornaby that she could send those in need to. The response from others was that all of the foodbanks had closed. I responded with a post that we did in fact have food available and that we were open every week and ready to help out. In 2 days, there were over 90 comments on that single post: people wanting to give food, those who knew of a need, those wanting to volunteer, etc. The response was enormous! The next week we had 4 people show up with bags of food to give away, and two local politicians who wanted to get the word out (one of which is running for parliament next May).

The pastor and I decided it was time to grow this project. We sent letters to all of the churches in the town (about 9), asking them to send a representative to a meeting to talk of future plans. We also invited local government officials and community workers.
Due to the response to invitations, we expected about 12-15 people to attend this meeting. I prayerfully (haha), made provision for 18. We had 40 people show up to the meeting to talk about future plans for community aid–all this organized by a church! 28 people signed up to volunteer on the spot, and others talked about how they could get more food and ways of finding those in need.

We have gone from helping 8 to 30 families a week over the course of last month alone. Some of the situations are very difficult, including legal problems and confusion, medical issues, and homelessness. We are seeking to be advocates for those in the community who have difficulty supporting or defending themselves, and we are gradually being equipped to do so.

I just have one explanation for why this has happened–God chose to move. The path has been laid before us–resources, people, time, need–and we have simply have sought where the Father guided. All glory and praise to Him!

Although we are helping those in need, we also do not want to create dependency on outside organizations, nor do we want to enable others to hurt themselves. This is very difficult, considering the crime and drug usage levels of this area. We are currently working on a plan to help those who need it when they need it, as well as encouraging them to set goals to be independent and self sufficient.

The bible verses we have chosen to base all of this work on are Micah 6:6-8.

“With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness (mercy),
And to walk humbly with your God?”

This is the goal:

Do Justice – Help those in need without enabling destructive behavior, and be an advocate for the helpless.

Love Mercy – Give to those who have made mistakes, who may not deserve anything but need it.

Walk Humbly with God – Do everything with a spirit of humility flowing from the Love of God and the example of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2).

I cannot wait to see where God leads in this adventure!