Move, adapt, and keep feeding kids
While we all acknowledge the unfortunate reality that there are food-insecure people in every city across the nation, it may surprise you to hear that High Point, NC is one of the worst in the nation for this problem. Despite being known as “the Furniture Capitol of the World” and having many metro amenities for city its size, as recently as 2015, a Gallup survey found that the Greensboro-High Point metro area had the highest level of food hardship in the country.
Many churches and organizations have stepped up to address this challenge. For several years now, our church, Connection Valley Church, has partnered with a local charity whose aim is to provide food to food-insecure families in the High Point, NC area. Feeding Lisa’s Kids is the passion project of local businesswoman Lisa Hawley. Currently about 140 families, which includes approximately 400 children, are provided with pantry-stocking foods once a month, with an extra delivery for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. On the first Wednesday of each month, a small army of volunteers meet to both load cars with food and to deliver to the families.
Recently, the monthly distribution site changed. Previously, we would meet on the back grounds of a large church at 6:30am. There was a pavilion where we could lay out and organize the pallets of food to be broken down and placed into cars. The parking lot was spacious with plenty of room to make a path for the delivery volunteers to drive their cars through a well-defined route, where they would stop at the first station to get their assigned delivery family addresses, move up to another station manned with loading volunteers, get the food, and be on their way to the families in need. We had been working from this place for a long time, and had the whole process down to a science. Everyone understood the plan and what part they played in the process. So much so, that we often finished the loading work early, before 7:30am. The location was tucked away from any major roads or traffic. It was a relatively peaceful place to meet up with friendly faces to do some good for others in our community.
But this past month, the location changed. The new host church, First UMC of High Point, is located in downtown. No longer tucked away from the noise and the traffic…instead, we are now in the middle of it. The two stations – family assignment and food pickup – were no longer in a line-of-sight with each other. Communication between the two was only possible via walkie-talkie. There was a significantly smaller parking lot for the drivers to navigate, get their assignments, and then go to the next street over to load up with food. A garage space smaller than the previous pavilion held the pallets of food. The loading stations were along the right lane of a one-way street. Traffic was just getting started for the day, and those that were out were not slowing down for anything. The whole setup was nothing like we were used to, and, adding another degree of difficulty, we had fewer loading volunteers show up than in typical months.
We knew the morning was not going to run as smoothly as we were accustomed to. After talking through the logistics and dividing into teams, one of our pastors prayed for God’s blessing on the families, but also that God would help us manage our frustrations as we navigated this new space. I’d love to tell you that after he prayed that prayer, everything then went perfectly – but it didn’t. At first, the family assignment station sent cars for food loading as soon as they gave out the addresses, but this quickly overwhelmed the three smaller loading teams, which led to a traffic build-up on the roadways. As the pallets of food were broken down and placed for the loading teams to pick up, the only place to put the food was on tables which took up half the sidewalk. Then, navigating the sidewalk around each other as we carried food to the cars slowed down the process. No one was snapping or yelling, but there were plenty of concerned looks and frustrated faces.
But we adapted on the fly. The three loading teams condensed down to two teams. Those breaking down pallets adjusted how they were bringing food out to the sidewalk. The loading side would walkie-talkie to the assignment station when to send the next car around. We weren’t done early, by any means – but the work got done. Families were fed, and that is the goal. We all talked briefly afterward, grateful that God helped us keep our tempers in check and that the cloudy weather never turned to rain. We agreed there were a lot of lessons learned and adjustments to be made for next month. This wasn’t a “bad location”, but there are additional logistics to work out before we are as smooth and polished as we were in the previous location.
Walking back to my truck, a construction worker called out to me from across the street, asking if we were starting a food bank. I told him about Feeding Lisa’s Kids and that this was our first time at this new location. He asked if the food was going up to the mountains – and that’s a fair question, because there are still relief efforts ongoing for people in western North Carolina who were impacted by Hurricane Helene last fall. I told him, “No, this food is for local families in High Point. We’re feeding hungry kids here.” He replied with a smile and said, “I’m glad we’re feeding the kids.” I told him we’d be there the first Wednesday of every month, and then we both went on our way.
Driving home, I reflected on everything that happened throughout the morning. I came to the conclusion that as good as we had it in the previous location, whatever issues we have to work through with the new location…our actions and the kids’ needs are going to be much more visible to the community. Many people who work or drive through downtown High Point have likely never heard of Feeding Lisa’s Kids. Now, every month, what will they see? They’ll see two churches and a non-profit working together to help local families in need. What will come of this? I don’t know, but I’ll leave that up to God. We’ll just put into practice one of Jesus’ directions from His “Sermon on the Mount”:
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
I’m excited to see what happens from here.
If you’re local to High Point, come join us the first Wednesday of each month. If you’re not local, I guarantee there are needs of people local to you that you can meet. Get out there and shine your light in ways so they can see your good works – all with the aim of pointing them to your Father in heaven.
Keep Pressing,
Ken