Trinity United Methodist Church held it’s annual “Feed The Need” Stuff-a-Truck for CCS this weekend and collected 5638 items of food for the Pantry! “March Madness – Getting mad about hunger in Elkhart County” was the theme of the drive that had members collecting mostly boxed food items for the past few weeks.

The Sunday School kids focused on cereal boxes for the drive. “Children lined the halls with their favorite types of cereal to give to children in the community who might not have any,” stated Michelle Lau, Director of Children’s Ministries. Food was also collected by community kids that were involved with the popular “Upwards Basketball” and “Upwards Cheerleading” that recently ended it’s season in Trinity’s Life Center.

It was an exciting weekend as congregation members dropped food off before and after all 4 worship services. The drive also caught the attention of MSNBC correspondents who are in town! They not only interviewed people, but also lent a hand in loading and unloading the truck at Church Community Services.

Check this out!

These givers get an A+ – The Truth Newspaper – Elkhart, IN

2 trucks delivering

85 banana boxes full of food to CCS’ food pantry

+665 dollars to purchase more from the food bank (all from Elkhart Community Schools teachers & staff )

+665 dollars matched by Communities Actively Relating to Elkhart Schools (CARES)

+500 dollar gift card from Martin’s Supermarkets (another match)

= quite a few happy people in Elkhart County!

Elkhart Community Schools gets an A+ indeed! 

“We were getting pretty desperate in the food pantry – this food drive took place at a crucial time.” – Wayne Harter, CCS Food Pantry Coordinator

Throughout the week of May 5-10, mail carriers in Elkhart delivered an extra piece of mail to homes and churches – a brown paper bag. Much as if it were at a grocery store, these brown paper bags were then filled with food and groceries. However, the grocery-filled paper bags were then delivered to the Post Office on Saturday, May 10. One brown paper bag of food arrived, and then another one – and another – and before long, 12,000 pounds of donated food items were collected, transported to Church Community Services, and sorted. Wayne Harter, CCS Food Pantry Coordinator, remembers that this annual food drive has gone on for as long as he has volunteered at Church Community Services, seven years, and that food donations this year significantly increased from the 5,000 pounds of food donated last year.

Nearly 40 volunteers from River Oaks Community Church, Hively Avenue Mennonite Church, and CCS Food Pantry Volunteers were present on Saturday to aid in the transportation and sorting of food. Before food can be placed on the food pantry shelves, it must be sorted; this allows for the food pantry shelves to be restocked easier, and allows Harter to see which items the food pantry is lacking. Currently, baby food, personal care items such as toothbrushes, and toilet paper are all still in low supply at the food pantry – and in high demand by food pantry clients. Church Community Service’s food pantry is a client-choice pantry and is the largest in Elkhart County, serving 1300 families and individuals every month.

Didn’t receive a brown paper bag in your mailbox? Call Church Community Services at 574-295-3673 to find out how you can donate food to the client-choice food pantry. To see pictures of the Food Drive, go here.