The deacons and mission team have called for a church conference to take place on September 26th to vote on the motion below. A description of the flow of distribution is included.
We will have a church communication meeting this Sunday, September 19th, following worship to discuss the motion. Please email me (Sonny) any questions that you have or bring them to the communication meeting. Also, if you are able, please let anyone know that you are aware does not receive email, so they will be informed of the motion and the vote. Here is the wording of the motion:
Joint Motion from the Missions Team and the Deacons
The Ministry Team in conjunction with the Deacons bring the following motion:
We move that: The church enter into a food distribution ministry under the distribution umbrella of
the United Brethren in Christ Church.
-That the initial time of food distribution will be one Thursday per month.
-That a one hour window be set for distribution of the food.
-That distribution of the food be from the parking lot outside Adam’s Hall.
-That any excess dry food be stored in the kitchen area of the Marchman building and any excess frozen food be stored in the holding freezer located nearby.
-That start-up costs and food purchases (meat: $.19 per pound) be taken from mission funds set aside for food ministry.
-That this ministry be initiated on October 14, 2021. In subsequent months, the second Thursday of the month will be our distribution day.
Narrative of how this motion came about: The Mission’s team brought to the church on May 21 a motion supporting the exploration of a food distribution ministry. This motion was passed in a business meeting. The church applied to Second Harvest for a once per month food distribution partnership. Our application was denied because Second Harvest wanted a partner to distribute food more frequently. The ministry of United Brethren in Christ has several distribution points in locations away from their primary location in Holly Hill. Because of our longstanding relationship with them, they have agreed to designate Central as an additional location. We will operate under their supervision and in keeping with their procedures for food handling and safety. We will serve under their auspices until we venture out on our own or decide that the ministry is not in God’s plan for us.
We will need the following type of workers:
Food handlers to receive the food from United Brethren in Christ (already packaged)
People to take food to the cars of those who will receive it
People to enroll those who come for food and then check them when they return
People to direct traffic
People to clean up, store excess food and reset the buildings and facilities for church use
People to pray for this ministry so that it will be about more than just food.
Here is a description of the flow for a distribution day (2nd Thursday of every month):
- We will not initially have an account with second harvest, so we will not have all of the compliance issues that would have come with second harvest.
- UBIC will pre-package the food into boxes that we hand out, so that work will be taken care of by them. If we have volunteers that want to help out at UBIC with this, I’m sure they won’t say no.
- They will deliver the food probably 30 minutes or so before distribution begins.
- 15-20 minutes before distribution begins we will start intake (gathering information for those we are helping).
- Cars will enter through the parking lot entrance nearest to the sanctuary. They will be met by 2 “intake” volunteers, who will get some quick information from them. These volunteers will be in the JAM wagon until the pandemic ends, with a provided cooling fan.
- They will make their way around to the distribution site, under the direction of a traffic volunteer, who will guide them to the portion of the parking lot closest to Adams Hall.
- They will then pop their trunk, and someone will put the box of food in their trunk or backseat.
- After we finish handing out food, we will then need to make sure that the area is clean, and that any leftover food is placed in the freezer or food pantry. Chuck said that as long as we have a holding freezer, any food that we have leftover can be distributed after worship on Sunday. They will adjust how much food they bring based on how many people show up.
- UBIC will be with us to make sure we are doing things correctly and efficiently for the first 2 or 3 times.
- Ideally, we need 8 volunteers, of which some will need to be early for set up, and some will need to stay after for cleanup:
2 for intake
2 for traffic management
2 for putting food in the cars
2 for getting food from any freezers, pantries, etc. and bringing it to the staging area.
- We currently have 16 people who have volunteered to help, and anticipate more that will follow.