Charitable donations usually surge during the holidays but dry up afterward, a problem Granger Community Church in Elkhart, Indiana, took action to address. After learning that shelters and food banks run desperately low on supplies during the first months of the year, Granger started its annual food drop 21 years ago.
“We decided that this would be a great opportunity for us as a church to help these organizations that help so many people,” says Lead Pastor Ted Bryant. “So, we organized a food drop that would do precisely that.”
The outreach entails purchasing the goods most requested by people in need, and packing those items into boxes that volunteers then deliver to food pantries, shelters and underserved neighborhoods.
More than 1,000 volunteers show up to pack or deliver 80,000 pounds of food to 18 local agencies throughout the region. Most of the volunteers do not attend Granger, which has an average weekend attendance of more than 4,000 worshipers.
“It is a major opportunity for people to invite their friends to come and serve regardless of where people are on the faith journey,” Bryant says. “We definitely want people to attend the church, but we are really all about relationships. And if we can provide an opportunity for someone who calls Granger Church their home to invite their friend into a space where they might experience God and friendship and fun, and it happens to be in a church where we talk about faith and we pray, that’s awesome.”
Entire school basketball, volleyball and cheerleading teams show up to pack boxes of food, as do public officials. Volunteers often decorate the boxes to include words of inspiration, including Scripture.
“So even after [people in need] eat the food, they’re encouraged,” Bryant says. “To feel like you’re not alone is just as much a part of what this food drop is about as the food itself.”
