Lexington Church Volunteers Feed About 75 Elementary Students Every Weekend on Donations Alone
Immanuel Baptist's lay-led backpack program began with a request to feed 25 children at Landsdowne Elementary and has never had to buy its food.
See where this is ›LEXINGTON, Ky. —
Volunteers from Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., are sending weekend food home with about 75 children at Landsdowne Elementary School during the school year, Kentucky Today reported Nov. 1.
Bradley Stevenson, the church's missions pastor, said the Backpack Feeding Program started three or four years ago with a request to feed 25 children on weekends. “Before we knew it, there was a need for 50 more kids to be fed,” he said.
The work runs on a weekly rhythm. A list of needed items goes up in the church lobby on Sunday mornings, and on Mondays volunteers gather the food and sort it in a packing room. Eight to 10 volunteers serve each week, packing about three weeks of meals at a time and delivering them on Fridays.
Stevenson said the church has not had to pay for the food. “We haven't had to supply any of those (food) needs — they are all donated,” he said. Donated items include microwaveable meal bowls, shelf-stable chocolate milk, single-serve cereal, juice, applesauce, fruit cups, snack crackers and breakfast bars.
Greg Wedding, the volunteer who leads the project, said, “Good nutrition is essential for learning, and when children lack it, their ability to learn is compromised.”
Lead Pastor Ron Edmondson pointed to the example of Christ. “Jesus didn't just tell people about God's love; He demonstrated it by meeting the needs of those around Him,” he said.
