Community Comes Together for KidWorks Food Pantry
The month of March has seen a drastic shift in the way we hold church, do work and live into community as we process through and take precautions against the COVID-19 outbreaks happening around the world. During this uncertain time, the Serve Department at St. Andrew’s wants to highlight and celebrate the good going on in our community. Stories of people in our congregation and our ministry partners doing kingdom work in this crazy time and stories of people loving their neighbors, supporting one another, and showing Christ’s love while doing so.
Last week, in the midst of the quick changes made to quarantine orders, a couple from the St. Andrew’s congregation donated carloads of fresh produce. They wanted the food to meet whatever need was greatest, beginning with members of the congregation and then moving to our ministry partners. Bags of lettuce, boxes of bread, and gallons of milk and cream were all sorted and bagged at St. Andrew’s with help from volunteers from Genesis and Redemption churches. While limiting our gathering size, we were able to create over thirty bags of fresh produce to donate to families in the congregation and to KidWorks’ neighborhood food pantry, allowing us to come alongside our ministry partner. In a time where their regular services and outreach is necessarily suspended, the KidWorks staff worked quickly and joyfully to meet the needs of their community.
Our bags of food joined with boxes from other organizations and were used to provide for the families that regularly visit KidWorks. The quick-thinking on behalf of the KidWorks staff, as well as the generous donation from our congregation members, are a wonderful example of our community coming alongside one another during this chaotic time. In a season where some will experience job loss and food insecurity, we’re showing Christ’s love by providing physical needs for those in our neighborhood who have great need. We want to celebrate both the generous donations received and the hard work of the volunteers as both work to bring light to a dark situation. As we continue in this season, the Serve Department encourages you to look around your own neighborhood and see where you can meet a need in the name of Jesus Christ and celebrate those around you who do the same.