The food ministry has been a vital part of IPC since congregation members brought laying hens to Chicken Sunday, during the early days of the Children’s Fresh Air Farm, so that the campers would have eggs for breakfast. From then to the days when Gayle Pelham hosted visitors to the Food Pantry and talked to them about how to use the various pantry items in their meal planning to today when IPC is continuing to look for more and better ways to serve our neighbors.
When the pandemic came, jobs disappeared, and buildings closed, IPC looked for a way to help our neighborhood, many of whom were suddenly unemployed. Staff member Susan Dukes suggested moving the food pantry outside the church building so that it would be accessible, and in that moment Blessing Boxes were born. Recognizing that food stamps don’t allow recipients to buy non-consumables like toilet tissue, toothpaste, cleaning products, and hygiene products, the congregation responded with its usual generosity and contributed canned goods and paper products that helped so many people through a terrible time. Heading into its fifth year, the Blessing Box is still a very important ministry for families in crisis.
When schools reopened during Covid, IPC reinstated a conversation we were having with Hayes K-8 School about childhood hunger. Hayes realized that without breakfast and lunch provided by the school, many children did not have enough to eat over the weekend. In Jefferson County, 24.3% of children are food insecure, and IPC now provides Weekend Buddy Bags to 175 Hayes students twice each month. And again, the IPC congregation has stepped up to provide food items, packers, and deliverers.
Through a partnership with PEER, Inc., a program founded by East Lake United Methodist Church, IPC provides fresh produce, and in some cases chicken and eggs, to approximately 400 families every month through Pop-Up Markets. At these markets, the food is provided free of charge in three food desert areas in North Birmingham, Titusville, and North Avondale/Kingston.
In partnership with the Society of Saint Andrew, the 2024 Seed Packing Party, which replaced the Crop Drop, produced 3,000 seed packets which will yield around 56,800 pounds of cucumbers and cabbages and will feed approximately 22,270 people, whereas Crop Drop feeds about 12,000 people (26,800 more pounds of food is produced, as well). Another SOSA program in which we participate is gleaning at the Pepper Place Market. For two summers, IPC members have volunteered to collect unsold vegetables and fruit from the vendors—a win-win. Hungry families receive the food, and the vendors don’t have to haul the merchandise back home, where it will likely spoil.
Every summer the IPC members support the Summer Learning Program at the Children’s Fresh Air Farm by donating the campers’ afternoon snacks. Learning is hungry work so the children are always very excited to see which treat they will be served each day.
There are many ways to serve in the food ministry at IPC. If you have questions or want more information, contact David Seamon, Catherine Sager, or Evelyn Puckett.
