Last year Hurricane Harvey made blatantly obvious why the church needs to hold a food drive. We even felt the need to extend our August food drive through the end of September. We also collect non-perishable food items in February. All the proceeds go to Rosenberg-Richmond Helping Hands. It was founded in 1985 by churches in the West Fort Bend County area, as a non-profit organization that helps people in crisis by providing basic needs on a short-term basis. They strive to provide assistance until the individual or family becomes self-sufficient. As a covenant church we signed a pledge promising financial support and agreed to hold at least two yearly food and/or clothing drives.
Summertime is often neglected for food drives, but it is most crucial. In the Lamar Consolidated School District 42.2% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That means they depend on school to provide them basic nutrition. A lot of them have their only meal of the day at school. That means that for the three months of summer these kids and their families have to struggle even harder to put food on the table. That makes ministries like Helping Hands so crucial and that’s why their shelves tend to run low in the summer.
St. John’s UCC has supported Helping Hands from the beginning. Please join us in this effort and bring non-perishable food items to church on Sundays at 10 am or during office hours, Monday through Friday from 08:30 to noon. Be part of a proud tradition.