40 Bags per Day

This week we spent several hours in the food pantry at His Place organizing and shelving hundreds of pounds of food. I've never seen so many cans of green beans. And corn- lots of corn too. And who knew you could buy mashed potatoes in a can??? Lindsay took charge of the fruits/veggies/legumes section while I shelved the soups, condiments, and canned meats and fishes. I use the term "fishes" loosely to include tuna, salmon and clams.




New donations to the pantry arrive each day, which is great, but unfortunately many bags and boxes include waaaay too much cream of onion soup and chicken broth. It made me wonder, "What goes through people's minds when they prepare to provide for the homeless? Are they just digging around the back of their own pantry looking for 'too much of something?'"



A sign near the door provides guidelines for giving: 1-3 person family = 1 bag/6 items; 4-6 person family = 2 bags/12 items. About 40 bags of food go out each day, so the pantry can be drained fairly quickly if new donations don't come in. Never the less, like every other aspect of this ministry, there's always room for following the Spirit as He leads. Food is not rationed out of fear but rather distributed with trust that God will provide all that is needed. Yesterday a homeless man came by the church not to ask for food, but rather to give it. He had used his food stamps to purchase several bags of goodies and then brought them by the pantry so they could be shared with others living on the street.

Being here with Terry and Betty we continue to experience more and more of God's faithfulness. We'll write more about that soon!



Some other funny (and some sad) food items we shelved:
1. Beanie Weenies
2. Blueberry muffin blueberries without the muffin mix
3. Dog food
4. Chinese wafers(?) from an oriental supply store
5. Condensed milk (high fat, med fat, and low fat varieties)
6. Watercress
7. Cans and cans of pumpkin pie filling (must have been on sale after Thanksgiving)