Every Wednesday my kids and I head down the road to The Well food pantry to stock the shelves, fill plastic bags with groceries, take out the trash, flatten boxes and haul them to a recycling center. Our little trips to The Well have kept me reminded of the present recession’s impact on our small town, and of the impact loving my neighbors can have these days.
THIS ISN’T POVERTY
Saturn once made cars here. Then GM made cars here. Now no one’s making cars here and rumors around town have us wondering if they ever will again. That would put about 3000 of my neighbors out of work.
Those who don’t make cars are mostly younger families who can’t afford houses in the cities north of us. The largest demographic in our town is a 32 year-old mom with a preschooler. When the recession crept in, jobs were lost, gas and food prices inched upward and quite a few people now need a little help: Nothing major most of the time; just groceries for a week or month until they can get things sorted out.
To be sure, this isn’t poverty. This is major inconvenience. But it’s terrifying, embarrassing and traumatic for families who’ve never had to depend so heavily on anyone else before. And it’s happening to more of my neighbors daily.
THE WELL
The Well fed 250 families in our tiny town last month, up from the month before. The kids and I have fewer and fewer cans of food to put on the shelves each Wednesday. After the bags are filled, the cupboards are at or near empty. The Well is having a hard time keeping up with demand. To make matters a bit more difficult, our church, which started The Well a few years ago, is still its primary funder today. Only one other church in town has committed to give to The Well regularly. That makes it very hard – almost impossible – for The Well to keep up with our neighbors’ increasing needs.
And the need looks as if it will continue to increase. In 2006 The Well served 77 families. In 2007, 205 families. In 2008, 584. In 2009, we’ll likely be over 1000.
AN OPPORTUNITY
This recession is an opportunity for Christians in our community – individuals and churches – to love our neighbors in very tangible ways that manifest God’s compassion with no strings attached. And who knows what God may do through our compassion: Kindness often brings us to repentance.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
If you live in another city, what can you and yours do to love your neighbors during this recession? In the comments, tell us what city you’re in and link us to churches and ministries in your community who are doing a great job meeting the needs of neighbors. Maybe someone down the road from them will read about their work here and lend a hand or some cash.
If you live in our town – or in one of the many cities nearby – The Well needs your money and your food. Go here to donate money. Go here to donate food.
SINGING FOR THEIR SUPPER
Some friends and I are donating our voices to raise money for The Well on November 15th at Thompson Station Baptist Church at 6PM. Tickets will be sold at the door: $10 adults, $5 kids, $25 family. Every cent goes to The Well. We’ll also be selling food and putting on a silent auction to raise funds that night as well. If you have stuff to donate to the auction or want to get involved in some other way, give The Well a call at 615-302-WELL or e-mail our executive director: arica AT springhillwell DOT org
There’s a Facebook event page for this concert and auction. If you’ve got friends in the area, please invite them via Facebook. Please Twitter and blog about the concert and the event page as well.
Thanks for all your help. Together we can love hundreds of our neighbors as Christ has loved us. And get a hotdog and a concert out of the deal too.
misty says:
Awesome!!
deirdre says:
Hey Shaun.
My church (snellville united methodist) supports the Southeastern Gwinnett county co-op. It is essentially a food pantry ministry similar to what you are describing.
Cody Myers says:
I will be there!!!
Christine says:
The men’s ministry at my church, Grace Lutheran in Huntington Beach, CA, just this past Sunday started a Sunday afternoon meal for the homeless and underprivileged in our community. Every other day of the week is covered by other local churches, but, with Sunday being a big day at churches, the facilities were difficult to come by for a Sunday afternoon/evening meal for these folks. We hope we’ve figured out how to make it work and kicked off our first week feeding 23 people in need in the community. We are located on a major intersection in our city and now on a daily basis people come in asking for food from the food pantry we maintain at the church.
I love your concert idea and you’ve given me an idea for our congregation. We stopped doing our Sunday night service but committed to four praise and worship celebration nights in the coming year. We have an ongoing program/schedule for food donation to the food pantry, but I’m to suggest we augment that with something similar to what you’ve got planned for November!
The Secret Life of Kat says:
Wow…really wishing I lived in Nashville. Hope it’s a massive success.
Deb says:
Am so grateful to be able to report that our local food pantry (Missouri) is supported by our community’s Ministerial Alliance so the churches are working together doing an amazing job of meeting the increasing needs of the people – even as the numbers continue to rise. Each week food fills the shelves then empties. Not only do the clients receive food, they have opportunity for prayer ministry as well. People are being introduced to Jesus and plugged into churches. Go Midwest!
Paula from Northern Ireland says:
I just wanted to say thank you for these latest posts – this one and the one about your dislike of church buildings in particular. I have found them challenging and so in line with what I feel God is trying to say to our church here in Belfast. I live is a city which has known and continues to know great pain and suffering – often as a result of “religion”. Our church is in a wealthy suburb of the city and it has become complacent and comfortable with looking after itself and the people have forgotten what it means to be true servants of Christ. I am so challenged by these posts and am calling out to God to show us how to serve the community in which we live – to be able to show God’s love in action – in a real and meaningful way. Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us so faithfully.