December 16, 2009

Helping Hold Off Hunger

By Phil Gianficaro
The Intelligencer

The woman appeared physically and emotionally spent as she and her young son waited on the long line for food.

After standing for more than an hour in the parking lot of Grace Bible Church in Souderton on Tuesday afternoon, mother and son finally reached one of the bountiful tables filled with fresh produce and bread.

The woman opened her shopping bag and filled it with broccoli, bananas, squash, celery, cilantro, cantaloupe and rolls. Standing beside her was her son dressed in torn jeans, sneakers and a long sleeve shirt and shivering slightly on the 43-degree, gray December day.

As they began to leave, the woman thanked the church volunteers and those from Philabundance, a nonprofit organization that works to end hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley by rescuing surplus food and distributing it to local groups serving people in need.

"Mommy, can you make the soup when we get home?" the boy asked.

"Soon as we get home," she said, straining to tote her two bags of gold.

"Good," he said. "That'll warm me up."

A warm blast of kindness never felt so good.

Mother and son were two of approximately 200 who stood in line, some for as long as two hours, to receive free food. It was a line that stretched almost as far as many of them have stretched their dollars to make ends meet.

"It used to be in a community like ours, which is relatively affluent, we didn't have this kind of need," said Senior Pastor Jason Blair of Grace Bible Church. "But there is obviously a need today.

"Some of these people here today are just regular folks who, for whatever reason, are experiencing challenges. There is a broad need. Things are tight. People just need a little help."

For the past eight weeks, Grace Bible Church and Philabundance have been there to offer it with a program entitled Fresh for All. The Philabundance truck, loaded with 5,000 pounds of fresh food, has made its way from Philadelphia each Tuesday morning and arrived at the church parking lot by 12:30 p.m. By then, some folks have been waiting in line nearly 90 minutes.

The volunteers begin by setting up two long tables, unloading fresh bread and produce from the truck and placing it on the tables. At 1 p.m., the line begins to move and the food begins to fill their bags. If folks need assistance filling their bags, they get help. If they need help carrying it to their vehicles, they get it.

When it comes to helping their neighbors, Philabundance and the Grace Bible Church get it.

"There is a definite need here," said Jessica Wyckoff, Philabundance Direct Service Program coordinator. "There have been between 180-200 people here each week since we started this back in October."

The food program is a perfect compliment to the philosophy of the Grace Bible Church, which has been increasing its presence in the community to meet the basic needs of those who live there.

"We're familiar with the food needs in the community," Pastor Blair said as he watched the program fend off hunger for a little while. "We work with Keystone Opportunity Council here in town which has done a great job through the years providing food pantries and other social service programs. We understand the needs of the people."

As the hour-long food donation came to an end, Nicole Bennett, a Grace Bible Church member and volunteer, was asked her impressions of the program.

"It's unfortunate that so many people are in need like this," she said. "But it's great that there are programs like this that address that need. To be able to help them makes you feel good."

Like a hot bowl of soup.

Click here to see this article.