In his First Letter (in the Bible), the Apostle John writes that the new commandment, one which Jesus always taught his disciples, is to love one another in truth and action, not in word or speech, living this out as you give selflessly – of yourselves to see that others in need are helped – or as in the case of Toledo Area Ministries (TAM) Feed Your Neighbor program (FYN), fed.
As FYN Director, I see examples of this lived out every day as our pantry coordinators and volunteers give selflessly of their time and abilities – sometimes up to 40 valuable hours a week filling the pantry shelves so others don’t go hungry! They drive their own vehicles around the city to pick up food. Then they the store the food, stock the shelves, and keep the pantry clean and welcoming. They help visitors select the best foods for their households from the pantry shelves, and then they help them out to the car with it. They do endless paperwork. They network with other pantries and organizations to present the best, freshest, and most nutritious foods to those in need! All for zero dollars in payment – endless gifts from the heart. I give thanks to God for them, always!
TAM’s Feed Your Neighbor Program is celebrating 40 years of service to those in the Toledo area who are experiencing food insecurity – approximately one in five Lucas County residents who are hungry and unsure of what, where or when their next meal will be. This may be a first time or singular experience, or families that have been accessing food pantries on a chronic, long term basis. Most are unemployed, underemployed, disabled, seniors or military families. They visit the FYN pantry in their neighborhood on the day and time it’s open, once a month to receive a generous 3 day supply of food, enough for everyone in their household. Pantry volunteers assist their visitors to “shop” the pantry shelves to make their own choice of the nutritious foods they like to eat and are able to prepare – Client Choice.
FYN is a network of 13 food pantries throughout the Toledo area, including one in Ottawa Lake MI, and the newest at Toledo Campus Ministries (TCM), a collaboration between FYN, TCM and the University of Toledo Center for Experiential Learning & Career Development.
Despite all our efforts, hunger in our neighborhoods is not going away! Last year, 68,450 people were helped by FYN. Our pantry coordinators all reported record numbers this past September and October!
Serving this number of people is only possible through the generosity and compassion of our community. All of the pantries are run and staffed by volunteers. Each pantry is located in a church or community center which offers the space and utilities at no charge to FYN so that all of the money donated to FYN is spent on food. We rely very heavily on food drives, personal donations and all the food we can get either free or at minimal cost from local food banks. So heavily, in fact, that it only costs FYN approximately $1 per person for a three day supply of food!
How can you help? Stop on in this Sunday, December 7th, 2 – 8 p.m. at The Village Idiot in Maumee to “Raise Some Cash.”
Proceeds from this fund raiser benefit FYN’s Augsburg Lutheran Church Pantry. $5 per person plus lots of charity items available for purchase and raffle and the best local bands playing lots of Johnny Cash!
In case you can’t make it, the next best way is to donate money or food to Feed Your Neighbor. Send a check to: TAM Feed Your Neighbor Program, 3043 Monroe St, Toledo OH 43606. Donate on line at www.tamohio.org and be sure to designate it for FYN. Check out the FYN web page for information on pantry locations and schedules. We also put info about our upcoming food drives and fund raisers on the web page and Facebook. Contact me for more info.
Many thanks from our hearts for all the times you have donated to or even prayed for Feed Your Neighbor! Please keep it up!
Donnajean Stockmaster is Feed Your Neighbor Program Director. She can be reached at dstockmaster@tamohio.org or (419) 242-7401, Ext. 145.
