A church in Georgia donated food and money to another congregation that organizes food distribution program for people hit by the pandemic.
The Macedonia Church of Grovetown (MCOG) received 8,100 pounds of food and $10,456.83 as donations from the Wesley United Methodist Church (UMC) on Sunday. The latter wanted to contribute to MCOG's food ministry, which has served more than 50,000 people since its launch in 2020. The distribution is held weekly with almost 200 recipients. But during the peak of the pandemic, the church had seen about 1,000 people coming to its food drive every week.
Speaking to The Christian Post, Wesley UMC Communications Director Milledge Austin shared that the donation was the congregation's way to make an impact to the community.
"We realized that during the summer months, there are a lot of families that lose school breakfasts and lunches for their kids, a staple they rely on very heavily during the school year. We wanted to help alleviate that loss by collecting food to distribute to those in need in Columbia County throughout the summer," Austin continued.
He revealed that the donations were collected during the season of Lent from the Wesley UMC congregants, pointing out their generosity "even during the peak of the pandemic."
The director hopes that the donation would convey the heart of the church to help others and spread the "Kingdom of God."
"The biggest thing we hope people take away from this sizable donation is our desire to help those in our community and those in need, and to spread the Kingdom of God here in Columbia County and beyond," he said.
He added that the church wanted to share the love of God not only in words but also in deeds.
"We simply want to spread God's love and good word. Not just by worshiping on Sunday mornings, but by going out and doing good for those around us," Austin also stated.
Wesley UMC Senior Pastor Greg Porterfield disclosed that the donation was made to help and not "compete" with MCOG in its ministry.
"When we were looking at how best to distribute the food, we learned of what Macedonia has been doing since last year. We knew that we wanted to contribute to their ministry, not copy it," Porterfield further said.
Aside from MCOG, the Golden Harvest Food Bank also distributed food for the needy families in Grovetown. Through its Mobile Market, the organization delivers food and fresh produce to "rural communities, food deserts, and other at-risk areas" by the help of local community partners.
Golden Harvest organized a distribution event at MCOG in January this year, where it gave out boxes for about 400 families.
The packages contain frozen meat, produce, as well as canned and boxed food. Through this program, the organization has already provided 2.7 million meals to local communities.
Christina Alexander, Golden Harvest's media marketing coordinator, said that the people's "giving spirit" approaching the holidays is impressive but the community's desire to continuously give even more is "amazing."
