FOCUS: CHURCH FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Food: a gift from ‘angels’
Angel Food allows residents to purchase discounted food for themselves, as well as give some away to others in need Nationwide cooperative helps put groceries on local tables
Darlene Davis brought along a laundry basket rather than a cart.
And instead of strolling the aisles of a supermarket, she cruised from table to table in a few minutes, filling the basket with individually wrapped strip steaks, chicken breasts, ground turkey, frozen green beans and eggs, among a host of groceries.
“You get quite a bit for your money, so it’s worth it,” said Davis, who spent $30 on food that would cost in excess of $65 at most supermarkets.
All the Town of Tonawanda resident had to do was step foot into Amherst Church of the Nazarene on a Saturday morning to pick it up.
Increasingly, area residents are relying on a nearby church for more than worship and praise.
A nationwide food cooperative program called Angel Food Ministries was quietly introduced into the area about a year ago in a couple of churches. It has since grown to include 13 sites that distribute an estimated 20,000 pounds of food each month in Erie County.
Many of the local Angel Food consumers can afford to shop at Wegmans or Tops. But unlike traditional food pantries hosted by churches, the program pays no regard to income levels, and many consumers said they were simply drawn by the bargain, especially as food prices crept higher and the nation’s economy worsened.
“We’re three steps away from retirement and the 401(k) is . . .,” said Betty Peters of the Town of Tonawanda, pointing her thumb downwards in explaining the direction of her retirement savings plan. “So any way we can save money helps.”
Angel Food customers need not be church members, but churches view the program as an opportunity to introduce themselves to more people — and perhaps win over some souls.
The host sites don’t openly proselytize, other than distributing a monthly magazine called the Servant, which includes prayers and articles with Christian themes.
“When people come in, they’ll see us laughing and joking together. They get to see the best of the church,” said Patrick A. Fleming, pastor of the Amherst church, on North French Road. “That kind of opens people up.”
A handful of Angel Food consumers have returned for worship or for other church functions, said Fleming.
For 17 years, Amherst Church of the Nazarene ran a traditional food pantry. Fleming kept seeing people who needed help, but didn’t qualify for food because their monthly income was $5 or $10 over the eligibility limit set by food bank suppliers.
Angel Food allows church members to purchase food for themselves, as well as give some away to people who need it.
The program was founded in 1994 by husband-and-wife pastors of a church in Monroe, Ga., who tried to give food away to needy families following the closing of two textile mills.
So few families accepted the free food that the pastors, Joe and Linda Wingo, wondered what they were doing wrong.
They quickly learned that families wanted help in dealing with the unemployment but would not take a handout.
So the Wingos embarked on a co-op approach in providing what they call “food relief,” purchasing a variety of nutritious food at high-volume discounts to ensure dramatic savings for consumers.
Organizers said the program isn’t a substitute for regular grocery shopping, but can certainly ease the strain of food costs.
“We’re not the sole source of food for most families that participate with us,” said Doug Metcalfe, a spokesman for Angel Food Ministries, which operates a 160,000-square-foot warehouse in Monroe. “Our box of food is a great supplement, more than a supplement, a great base, for somebody’s food budget.”
From an initial distribution to 34 families in 1994, Angel Food now reaches more than 500,000 families in 35 states each month. To keep costs down, the program relies on an estimated 45,000 volunteers nationwide.
At the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg on McKinley Parkway, one of the first churches in Western New York to offer Angel Food, participation has nearly tripled, from 135 families in June 2007 to 369 this past September.
The customers come from various income levels, although volunteer director Christie Noonan said she continues to see hesitation from middle-and upper-income families, because of a stigma that she’s hoping to dispel.
“Everybody has to eat,” she said. “Whether you’re making $1,000 a month or $100,000 a month, everybody likes to save money. I always say to people, ‘Do you look for sales at the mall? Do you look for the cheapest gas? Do you look for the best prices on airline tickets?’ This is absolutely no different.”
Participation has grown largely by word of mouth.
Colette Gorcica of Hamburg, for example, introduced her extended family and friends to the program.
“It is a great deal,” she said. “Grocery costs have gone up so much, and Angel Food has held it.”
Cherie Gieschenmpelezos, who was out of work earlier this year battling cancer, said she was made aware of Angel Food by a niece in Euclid, Texas.
“It’s good food; it’s not crud,” said Gieschenmpelezos, who lives in Amherst and also purchases a fully cooked and re-heatable “convenience box” of 10 nutritionally balanced meals for her 84-year-old Cheektowaga mother.
The December menu features more than 11 pounds of beef, chicken and pork, along with staples such as rice and carrots, for $30. Organizers said the regular boxes should provide meals for a week for a family of four.
In addition, customers may order special boxes, such as 20 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables for $21 and 10 pounds of boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $21.
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