St. Joseph church provides free food pickup, volunteer opportunities

Mission work resides in the hearts of many St. Joseph United Methodist Church members and regular attendees. The most visible new example of that happens monthly.

“We are blessed with the awesome volunteer power we have to run our new food-distribution ministry,” co-organizer Nada Cagle said. “We’re glad people who need food are showing up. And we hope people will keep spreading the word to help us reach as many folks as possible.”

Feed the Need Food Distribution begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, August 1 and lasts until 7 p.m. The church is located at 205 North Third Street, just across the street from Subway in St. Joseph.

“We hope people will spread the word so those in need in our area feel comfortable coming here each month to get food, plus some fellowship while they’re here,” co-organizer Connie Jamison said. 

“All are welcome! No need to pre-register. Just show up and bring some bags if you can. You’ll go home with a shopping cart full. 

The mission works provides all kinds of fresh and frozen food, as well as non-food items like sunscreen, laundry soap and air fresheners at no cost.

In July, the fourth month of this new endeavor, five new volunteers helped distribute food to:

• 40 people, 14 of them children
• Eight St. Joseph families
• Five Homer families 
• One Broadlands family 
• One Longview family

“We have a host of solid organizers and helpers, but we do anticipate more growth based on what we’ve seen here at the beginning,” volunteer Tammy Frick said. 

If you’d like to help, please call SJUMC at (217) 469-2515 or send an email to office@sjumchurch.org to learn more about volunteering. The food-distribution effort needs:

• Backup volunteer drivers to go to Bloomington’s Midwest Food Distribution Center and back.
• Help unloading and bringing in supplies using carts and the church’s elevator.
• People who will set up new and stored food items.
• Registration helpers. 
• Assistance bagging up what people choose and loading items in their vehicles. 

Organizers accept monetary donations, and if the need continues to grow, they will need more drivers and vehicles to transport food.  

Upcoming food-distribution dates are:

• August 29
• October 3
• October 31
• November 21
• December 19

For more information, please visit facebook.com/cufeedtheneed/.