Dear Friends,
Did you know that 51% of the clients of the NW Indiana Food Bank choose between buying food and paying for their utilities? Or did you know that in 2011 there were 47,521 children receiving free and reduced lunches in Lake County?
Hunger is a reality for many people in our county but it many times goes under noticed because people usually do not want to talk openly about needing help with groceries. And, when schools are out for the summer the food bills for families with children increase since they are not receiving meals at school.
Our congregation has made a commitment to help provide food support to our community in five ways this year:
* We will continue to provide/partner with area community groups to provide a dinner meal on the first Sunday of every month to the guests at the Hammond Warming Shelter,
* We will continue to participate annually in the Souper Bowl of Caring to support the St. John Township food pantry,
* We will work with the Feeding The Flock program at First Presbyterian Church (Merrillville) to provide at least two Saturday lunches this year,
* We will collect food during the month of May to benefit the NW Indiana Food Bank to help them address increased need during summer months, and
* We will help our church children plant seedlings and plant starts in the Youth Garden, teach them how to care for and harvest the garden produce throughout the summer, teach them how to can some of the produce, and donate the produced (fresh and canned) to area food programs and pantries.
Thank you to everyone for choosing to stand with our brothers and sisters who are underresourced with food. May God bless our efforts, as well as those in our community and world who are working to end hunger!
In God’s Love,
Pastor Jody