ASHEBORO — “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” — Matthew 25:40
That scripture is the basis for the Hopewell Friends Meeting food pantry. Rebecca Hurley, who oversees the project, said the goal is to help the needy in the community.
“We knew there are a lot of hungry people around and wanted to help them,” she said.
Hurley is reluctant to say who came up with the idea but gives credit to the Hopewell United Society of Friends Women (USFW) for establishing the food pantry about six years ago.
“We started with nine or 10 bags of food and have progressed to 40 to 45 bags,” she said. “It started as a small mission project and it’s grown to the whole church. The church has helped and a lot of individuals give money. Some people not related to the church bring food.”
Hurley said the youth in the church assist with bagging the food when they’re not in school.
“We try to buy local but also buy in bulk at Sam’s Club (in Greensboro).”
The group has a sign-up sheet for families who wish to receive a bag of food. Once a month the USFW purchases enough food to fill the bags, then the families come to the church to pick them up. Hurley said the local schools sometimes give them names of needy families.
Most of the monthly lists have 30-some names. The USFW keeps a few extra food bags for emergencies. What isn’t used one month will be held over to the next month.
Hurley estimated that a bag of groceries would cost between $20 and $25 in a store. Some of the items are donated by grocers, she added.
A typical bag will contain three cans of vegetables, two of soup, evaporated milk, two sleeves of saltine crackers, two canned meats, one or two packaged fruits (sometimes they have fresh fruit), a box of cereal, cookies, Ramen noodles, peanut butter, specialty crackers, canned pudding, a box of jello, loaf bread or buns, macaroni and cheese, dry spaghetti and a roll of toilet paper. They also may contain other foods that are donated. Hurley said the bags don’t include drinks.
One bag is for a family of four and should help them eat for a couple of weeks. Last year, there were 375 bags distributed.
“This wouldn’t be done without these people’s help,” Hurley said of the volunteers. “We just call and they come.”
Hopewell Friends branched out after Hurricane Matthew flooded much of eastern North Carolina. The congregation, along with another church in Robbins, has collected food, paper products and other necessities as hurricane relief.
