Churches across the U.S. serving more hungry neighbors, leaders report.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
MINNEAPOLIS — As volunteers prepared to hand out milk, produce, canned goods and meat, cars lined up outside the Minneapolis Central Church of Christ.
More than an hour before the church’s weekly food distribution, vehicles stretched down a neighborhood street — an indication of the extreme need the congregation serves.
“My fellowship hall is a Walmart now,” said Russell A. Pointer Sr., senior minister and elder.
Related: Church food pantries respond to increased need amid migrant surge
Minneapolis Central launched its food ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic and fed hungry neighbors after violence following George Floyd’s May 2020 murder destroyed nearby stores.
Four years later, the number of needy families relying on the ministry has more than doubled, averaging between 325 and 375 per week, church leaders said.
“People now have to choose between paying rent or getting something to eat,” said Mariea Overton, a social worker and the food ministry’s deputy director. “So I think that the growth of the numbers of the need for food has a lot to do with the economy.”
With grocery prices high and pandemic-era benefit programs ended, many Churches of Christ across the nation report increased demand for food benevolence.
“With inflation and the cost of living here in Hawaii, it’s still expensive,” said Ruth Byrne, who started the food bank at the Pearl Harbor Church of Christ in Honolulu about 15 years ago. “When they have children, they’ll choose between rent and electric or water bills, and there’s nothing left. So that’s where the food pantry comes in.”
This story appears in the online edition of The Christian Chronicle.
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