Holy Covenant, Food Bank seek ways to continue outreach
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Written: 11/6/2009
Wrap-up sessions following the 2009 Summer Free Box Lunch Program at Holy Covenant UMC, Carrollton, brought together representatives of the three cooperating groups: The church, North Texas Food Bank and Metrocrest Social Services. Front row: Terry Fox, Holy Covenant missions co-chair. Second row from left, Jennifer Bussell, Food Bank, and Bunny Summerlin, Metrocrest. Third row from left, Mary Joyner Metrocrest; Senior Pastor Rev. Andy Lewis; Colleen Evans, and Elise Webb. Fourth row: Rick Davis and Dawnie Derr.
BY JOHN A. LOVELACE
Special Correspondent
Holy Covenant UMC, Carrollton, didn’t give away 14,000 fresh, cold, free box lunches this summer after all (See www.ntcumc.org, NTC Reporter, July 24, 2009). It gave away more than 16,000
And, since Holy Covenant originated the idea and spearheaded its development through the North Texas Food Bank, the church is at least partially responsible for the food bank’s distributing 33,000 free box lunches at its sites in north Texas, including Holy Covenant.
Those were among bottom-line statistics and feel-goods shared during a wrap-up session Aug. 28 at the church. Gathered ’round the conference table were a half-dozen or so church Missions Committee member volunteers, Pastor Rev. Andy Lewis and representatives from Holy Covenant’s two partner organizations in this unprecedented effort to combat hunger, the Food Bank and Metrocrest Social Services.
Terry Fox, the church’s mission committee co-chair, summarized: “We did 99 percent right. Nothing Catastrophic member happened.” She credited that, in part, to 150 volunteers – most but not all Holy Covenant members -- who in 54 days handed out up to 300 free meals per day. Overall, the program registered 555 enrollees.
But even if the fresh, nutritionally balanced box lunches were free to the church and to those who received them, they weren’t without cost to the North Texas Food Bank.
Jennifer Bussell, the Food Bank’s child programs manager, said Food Bank leaders calculated that it cost $2.70 per box lunch to send a truck and driver from NTFB headquarters in Duncanville to the church in Carrollton and back.
This, she said, compares with $1.50 per-meal costs to deliver nutritionally comparable meals to the Food Bank’s 12 established Food for Kids sites.
Those were among bottom-line statistics and feel-goods shared during a wrap-up session Aug. 28 at the church. Gathered ’round the conference table were a half-dozen or so church Missions Committee member volunteers, Pastor Rev. Andy Lewis and representatives from Holy Covenant’s two partner organizations in this unprecedented effort to combat hunger, the Food Bank and Metrocrest Social Services.
Terry Fox, the church’s mission committee co-chair, summarized: “We did 99 percent right. Nothing Catastrophic member happened.” She credited that, in part, to 150 volunteers – most but not all Holy Covenant members -- who in 54 days handed out up to 300 free meals per day. Overall, the program registered 555 enrollees.
But even if the fresh, nutritionally balanced box lunches were free to the church and to those who received them, they weren’t without cost to the North Texas Food Bank.
Jennifer Bussell, the Food Bank’s child programs manager, said Food Bank leaders calculated that it cost $2.70 per box lunch to send a truck and driver from NTFB headquarters in Duncanville to the church in Carrollton and back.
This, she said, compares with $1.50 per-meal costs to deliver nutritionally comparable meals to the Food Bank’s 12 established Food for Kids sites.
“This is the direction we want to move. It’s the first time we’ve done cold, fresh, box lunches,” she said, then followed with this assurance: “My ultimate passion is feeding kids. My next passion is to do it more efficiently.” She indicated that the Food Bank is considering ways to continue the program and added, “We didn’t solicit [financial] support for your program directly, but if it is continued, we probably will.”
Bunny Summerlin from Metrocrest Social Services (MSS), which serves Carrollton, Coppell, Addison and Farmers Branch, said that perhaps MSS trucks could go get the lunches. “We’re very interested and hope this program can continue.”
Missions co-chair Fox said, “Make sure we’re still on your list.” Bussell replied, “You’re number one. It‘s your idea. Others should talk to you. None have been more successful than you.”
Rev. Lewis said, “There’s a tableful of people here who want to be flexible. Tell us how we can help. It‘s pretty easy to rally a community around a program. This proves it.”
Fox added, “The need is there, so much more than I thought.” Bussell nodded in agreement, then added, “In Texas, food is uncertain for one out of five children.”
Bunny Summerlin from Metrocrest Social Services (MSS), which serves Carrollton, Coppell, Addison and Farmers Branch, said that perhaps MSS trucks could go get the lunches. “We’re very interested and hope this program can continue.”
Missions co-chair Fox said, “Make sure we’re still on your list.” Bussell replied, “You’re number one. It‘s your idea. Others should talk to you. None have been more successful than you.”
Rev. Lewis said, “There’s a tableful of people here who want to be flexible. Tell us how we can help. It‘s pretty easy to rally a community around a program. This proves it.”
Fox added, “The need is there, so much more than I thought.” Bussell nodded in agreement, then added, “In Texas, food is uncertain for one out of five children.”
Amid the air of some uncertainty about next year, Holy Covenant missions committee members identified several vignettes of success, among them: • “Volunteers came not only individually but in groups, Boy Scouts, Sunday school classes, local businesses.”
• “Many e-mails from volunteers indicated they hope the program is continued next year. Some asked ‘how many days can we work?’ ”
• “Each volunteer is assured that a ‘shift’ is only one hour.”
• “We never sent anybody away hungry.”
• “Everything in the boxes was nutritious. There was no ‘empty’ food.”
• “The meals were plenty nutritious for, say, a 10-year-old boy.”
• “The meals were fresh and appealing every day.”
• “Advanced registration helped families take advantage of our (Holy Covenant) school and free-haircut day.”
• “Two hundred families allowed us to add their names to our (church) mailing lists.
Now we can offer them parenting and financial services.”
One father phoned the church on the final day to say that the money his family saved via the free box lunches “helped us make it through the summer.”
One father phoned the church on the final day to say that the money his family saved via the free box lunches “helped us make it through the summer.”
For more information, call 972-492-2432, or log on to website www.hcumc.org.
David Garivar, age 7, captured the daily distribution end of Holy Covenant UMC’s Free Box Lunch program in this drawing. Details indicate rain and shine, distribution tables set up under a shade tree, children lined up with reusable bags given as part of the program, one recipient apparently with multiple bags on a bicycle, 100-degree heat, “Thank you” and “God bless you.”
PHOTOS BY JOHN LOVELACE