Fighting hunger by filling in gaps

When Barb Streed became pastor of Faith Lutheran in Dodge Center, she said, the congregation had restructured the church council and was trying to decide what the congregation’s ministry should be.
They “talked and prayed” about what God was leading the congregation to do and alleviating food security kept coming up, Streed said.
“All of us had thought about alleviating food insecurity,” she said.
The problem, they realized, is not that there is not enough food, she said. The problem is in the distribution of that food.
Their research showed that there are a lot of people in Dodge County who are struggling with the time between when their food runs out and they have the funds or assistance to buy it again.
“We felt we could help fill that gap,” Streed said. They felt, she said, that God was leading them to this niche.
The result of that talk and prayer is the “Pantry of Faith” that helps residents to fill that gap.
“The idea was for us to create a bag of groceries that would make actual meals,” Streed said.
Included are a menu and the food for healthy meals. The grocery bags are designed to provide breakfast and dinner for four days for a family of four. The bags also include a $15 food voucher to cover foods on the menu that may not be included in the bag. For example, a recent bag of groceries included a box/bag of cereal, pancake mix, syrup, applesauce, a package each of Tuna/Chicken Helper, canned chicken, canned tuna, two cans of vegetables, spaghetti sauce, noodles, two cans of fruit and peanut butter. The food voucher to Sunshine Foods in Dodge Center would allow for the purchase of milk for the cereal, meat for the spaghetti and bread for sandwiches.
Families can get one bag/voucher a month, Streed said, while the supplies last.
The pantry is funded by the congregation through monetary donations and donations of specific food items.
In February, for example, the collection item was canned fruit and hand soap. For March they are looking for canned chicken or tuna and peanut butter.
“We have just been blessed by the generosity of the congregation and the community,” Streed said. “Sunshine Foods has been great to work with.”
So far, she said, the Pantry has been serving about 17 families a month. About half of those families have children, she said.
At the start, she said, the congregation sent letters to organizations who might be able to refer people to the program. The idea, she said, is not to replace other agencies such as Semcac but rather to supplement them.
The church has also put a letter in the backpack of every child participating in the community backpack program inviting the parents to use the Pantry of Faith if they wish.
The backpack program provides children in Triton schools who are on free or reduced lunches to have food for the weekends.
In providing the food, she said, the church has no other motive than to show “we truly care about and love people.”
Everyone who comes in for a bag of groceries is offered a cup of coffee and a seat if they wish to sit and talk.
The Pantry of Faith has also become more than simply a project of Faith Lutheran, she said, as pastors and members of other churches and the community have become involved.
A parishioner at Seventh Day Baptist, she said, has access to day old bakery products from a grocery in Rochester and regularly brings items to the pantry for distribution.
Two other churches in town have community gardens during the summer, she said.
“It’s truly a community thing,” Streed said. “This is such a good community; people care about each other.”
The church is also in the beginning stages of planning a Sunday evening community meal once a month at Heritage Estates, Streed said. The idea, she said, is not for the church to serve a meal to the community there but rather to share a meal with the community, including planning, preparation, dining and clean up.
Life can be a struggle, Streed said, and if the congregation can alleviate some of that struggle, why not.
“We’re so excited,” she said. “We feel so humbled that we have this opportunity to be used by God in this way.
“There are good people here, we all just need each other. We feel so blessed knowing this is an idea from God,” she said. “It feels good for us as a congregation to have this focus.”
 
If you go
The pantry is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and from 9 to 11 a.m. Sundays.