July

I was reading in John 6 about Jesus’s miracle in feeding the five thousand that our ministry is named after. As often happens when reading a well-known story, something stood out that I hadn’t thought about before: Jesus told the disciples to gather up the leftover fragments of food and there were twelve baskets of leftover food, even after feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes.

I wonder what happened to the twelve baskets of leftovers? Did it go to feed others? Who decided who got the leftovers? Did the food go to waste? Did you know that an estimated 40% of all food in America goes to waste? That amounts to an astounding 108 billion pounds of food wasted in one year. This equates to 130 billion meals that are thrown away. T hese are shocking numbers especially when it is estimated that 38 million men, women, and children go hungry every single day.

Our Ministry is partnering with Second Harvest an organization that is a part of Feeding America that rescues food that would otherwise go to waste. Last year the Feeding America network rescued 4.7 billion pounds of food and distributed to food pantries and meal sites like ours. Some of the food we receive will be free, but some will be bought at reduced prices.

We are well on our way to establishing this important Ministry every Tuesday night starting August 2nd, serving food from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm. We are partnering with other Churches and businesses that have offered their volunteer and financial support. We will have an ongoing need for volunteers and financial support. Please consider how you can help fill the need!

All are welcome to come and get a hot meal! I often hear people say they don’t want to take a hot meal that may be needed by others. As you can see by how much food is wasted there is more than enough to feed all of us!