Bread of Life feeds growing need

For five years the Bread of Life ministry has been feeding people’s bodies as well as their souls thanks to the faithful service of several volunteers, but the growing ministry also has a growing need for support.

Operation of Clarendon’s food pantry moved to the First United Methodist Church in 2011 and began by serving about 30 families per month.

But as time went by, the ministry has grown, according to Katherine Monroe, the lead coordinator of the ministry.

“We served 169 families in December,” Monroe said. “That represents 250 to 300 individuals.”

Although it operates out of the Methodist church, it is a community-wide ministry with volunteers coming from many different denominations for the common purpose of serving others.

“The object is to help others,” Monroe said. “It’s great that so many people help. I like it, and I’ve met so many great people doing this that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

When Monroe and her husband started helping with the food pantry, they were buying food themselves at a discount store to try to help. But they soon affiliated the ministry with the High Plains Food Bank to provide the most food for the most people.

“We can get food boxes for about 16 cents per pound through High Plains,” she said.

For a time, the ministry re-boxed the food so that each family received about 25 pounds of food, but the labor was too intensive. Now each 35-pound box goes straight to a family in need.

The schedule varies some, but the family boxes and surplus food are distributed on one Monday each month, and then a second distribution of surplus-only occurs another Monday.

Working with the High Plains Food Bank also helped the ministry with its structure by providing guidelines that recipients must meet in order to qualify for assistance.

Monroe along with Carole Braddock, Lynn Calvert, and Lisa Watson serve as coordinators for the ministry, and they are assisted by a team of about 30 volunteers who help unload the food truck and prepare for each distribution.

With the number of recipients more than doubling since 2014, the Bread of Life is in need of both volunteers and financial support. Thanks to the High Plains Food Bank, a little bit goes a long way.

“Twenty-five dollars will pay for about four boxes,” Monroe said.

To make a donation to the ministry, make checks payable to Bread of Life and mail them to the First United Methodist Church, PO Box 157, Clarendon, TX 79226. To volunteer or for more information, call the church at 806-874-3667.