Together we Can

When we think of hunger, the first thing that usually pops into our minds are the images of malnutrition and starvation occurring in Africa each day. But we don't have to cross an ocean to experience hunger; it is a reality within our own country. With the current economic crisis, millions of Americans are experiencing hunger and are struggling to feed their families on a daily basis.

When I first began creating my HELM project, I knew I wanted to be able to help other people and make a difference in their lives, no matter how small. However, as the economic crisis worsened, I knew that providing food to struggling families was my calling. In my community, there is a fantastic ministry called FIES, Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services. My church is a strong supporter of this ministry and donates food and money to help feed the hungry in Fullerton, California. But as my church continued to help those families, I began to see even members of our own church family struggling to get by.

With that in mind, I started my ministry, 'Together we Can' (pun intended). My church provided a food pantry, but it was rarely full and few knew of its existence. My ministry would be two-fold: encouraging buy-in from the congregation to provide more cans and items for the food bank, and advertising this ministry to those with the greatest need. My idea was to encourage members to bring a can to any meeting they attended at the church and it would be donated to the food pantry. Many members attend as many as two meetings per week; this would provide a constant inflow of cans to keep replenishing the pantry.

While I hoped this ministry would be a success, I was elated to see how well it has done. Over the last five months, "Together we Can" has collected and donated well over 500 cans, food items, and countless checks to our food bank to help our church family. This ministry has become self-sustaining, and will continue for years to come to help those in need. As Jesus said in Mark 6:37 and 42, "You give them something to eat ... they all ate and were satisfied." May the Lord continue to bless this ministry.