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Living waste not, want not
“I thought there were enough places to send people for food, but there weren’t.” Church secretary Janet Jaeger of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Jackson, Michigan, is the one who answers the door or the phone when hungry people come to the church asking for help.

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At first, Immanuel gave people grocery store vouchers and boxes of canned goods, Jaeger said. But there was never enough for all the people who asked the church for help. Hoping to find better ways to provide for them, Jaeger and some parishioners attended one of Arnold’s presentations.

Inspired and energized, Immanuel members opened their food pantry in 2003. The church’s pantry opens every Saturday morning at 9:30, serving more than 150 families each week. The pantry uses no money from the church budget; it is funded entirely by donations and grants, including a 2006 Domestic Hunger grant from the ELCA. Last year, Immanuel received donations of more than $35,000 to purchase food and other supplies for its pantry. The pantry buys its goods from the Second Harvest Food Bank in Battle Creek, about 50 miles west of Jackson. Immanuel now offers health care services when the pantry is open, including monthly blood pressure checks administered by the parish nurse. Providing for hungry families in the area has become an important part of the church’s mission, Jaeger said.

So, what can you do?
Take a minute to visit America’s Second Harvest Web site where you can find hunger and poverty statistics for every state. Find out what hunger looks like in your own community by checking out your state’s demographics, poverty indicators, and participation in federal and local nutrition programs.

Does your congregation run a pantry? Would it benefit from learning about the Waste Not, Want Not initiative? How can you contribute? Visit the Second Harvest volunteer site, where you will find a list of participating food programs in your area. Become an advocate in your own community!

Emily Hansen is an Associate for programs for Women of the ELCA in the areas of grants, scholarships, and social justice. She and her husband are parents to their three-year-old son, Aidan.

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Do you love me? Feed my sheep
St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Maryland, has taken the commission to love seriously by providing food to people in its neighborhood, Pimlico. The average income in this community is $10,000 a year, and 55 percent of the people in Pimlico live below the federal poverty level. The church manages its own food pantry project with food and donations from its members and the members of other churches in Baltimore.

The church’s vision statement is “Feed my Sheep.” Between November 2005 and May 2006, St. John’s fed 200 people, distributing 128 bags of food that would supply a family of four for three days. The church relies on members who have heard the command to love one another.

With a grant from Women of the ELCA for the “Nutrition Kitchen” educational program, the women and men of St. John's will be involved in teaching young women how to make the most out of the food they receive from the pantry.

Churches like St. John’s need partners in other areas of the country to act on Jesus’ command to “Feed my sheep.” Jesus calls us to love, to feed others, and to be witnesses of God’s love.

What are your plans to love fully and to tend and feed God’s sheep this day?

Elizabeth Wolinski will graduate in May 2007 from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg with a master of divinity degree and await her first call.