Food Pantry Covenant

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will around in every good work. As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God…” II Corinthians 9.6-12.

“Do all the good you can, 
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”    

   John Wesley

With the scriptures and John Wesley’s words planted in our hearts, we the volunteers who are working with the Food Pantry of Wrightsboro United Methodist Church offer the following statement to our congregation and community.

 1.      We have opened up our Food Pantry from its beginning over 11 years ago to help feed the hungry in our community.  The Food Pantry is currently open on Wednesday mornings from 9-11 AM.

2.      We want to covenant with the Church community to “do all the good we can” and we trust that the Church community will share in the blessings which God has first given to us.

3.      We recognize that we can not solve the problem of world hunger, but we can make a difference in the lives of people around us—one person at a time.

4.      We recognize that some persons will take advantage of any good program. We are taking steps to give food to the truly needy.  You are welcome to come and see our procedures. God will be the ultimate judge and not us.  We believe that God will work in their consciences to do the right thing.  At the same time, we know that we have to be good stewards of your donations, and we are taking steps to insure to the best of our ability that we are feeding those who truly need food.

5.      Right now, we are feeding numerous persons and their families on the donations of food from the congregational family.  The more that we all participate in giving, the more we will be able to meet the need.  We feel challenged to encourage the Church family to be supportive with your donations of food (that is not out of date) and donations of cash so that we can purchase needed items, and most importantly your prayers.

We have plans for the immediate future and beyond which we hope that you will pray about. These plans include:

1.      Asking the Pastors and Caring Friends to offer counseling on Wednesday mornings when the food pantry is open.  We want to offer food for the soul as well as the body. We will invite all persons to join us for worship, although coming to our church is obviously not a requirement for a person to receive food.  But we want to be intentionally invitational to all of God’s people.  All persons who come to the food pantry will be required to speak to someone if only for a short period of time to sign documentation and to answer a few general questions in the form of a survey.  This survey will be used to help us as we continue to understand the needs of our larger community and to meet the requirements of our grant. 

2.      We have received a $13,000 grant from the Duke Endowment to help us further the capacity of our food pantry.  This grant is to help us purchase a commercial grade freezer and refrigerator to keep perishables.  We also have funding for permanent shelving.  We will install this equipment in the present room that houses the nursery in the Education Building---after the nursery moves over to our new wing on the Sanctuary building.  We anticipate that these improvements will be made in September or October.

3.      Once we have this room set up, we will also offer periodic nutrition training from a dietitian.  She will also offer menus and cooking classes that will be open to our congregation during the food pantry hours.

4.      We are going to enter into a contract with Angel Foods Ministry. This ministry allows persons (including persons in our congregation who might be struggling with the purchase of food) to get a tremendous amount of food by contributing $30 per month.  We are excited about this ministry and we anticipate that it will help all concerned.  It also allows persons to have more self-worth as they will be able to “help themselves” even as we also assist them.

5.      We are hopeful that next Spring we might be able to plant and tend a small garden that would provide some fresh vegetables.  (If you have a garden-sized plot that you would be willing to let the Church use, please let the pastor know).  We have a model garden in the Burlington area called Anathoth Community Garden.  Persons who receive vegetables also donate time in the garden to help plant, hoe, and harvest the vegetables.

6.      Once our Family Life Center is built, we have a dream of having a once a week lunch in which the congregation might help feed anyone who will come to eat.  During that time, persons will be offered all sorts of private counseling, including financial counseling.

7.      Again, we hope that you will continue to pray and that you might consider coming out and volunteer on Wednesday mornings.  Volunteers are always needed to help fill bags or do some paper work or help with crowd control.

We need you.

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