Just a note to encourage churches to consider opening a food pantry in their local church.....

At Council Bluffs, Iowa Church of God of Prophecy, we store our food in a small room off the side of the front stage area.  There is a normal refrigerator in that room also.  food must be kept off the floor so I recently used some plastic pepsi cases turned upside down and laid them infront of our shelves and on the floor and there I keep extra cases of food as well as a few boxes filled with a normal variety of foods...e.g. 4 cans of fruit, 6 cans of veggies, 2 cereal, rice, dry beans,  1 juice, 1 peanut butter, 2 pasta, spaghetti sauce,(all these items are free to us from the OmahaFoodBank or inexpensive to other food pantries) 1 bar of soap, 4 cans of soup, pkg of crackers,etc.

Then when someone calls I can set a time for us to meet and bring the box of food to the back door of the church (on a red wagon) and add some frozen meats and have the family complete a form with their name etc.  I enjoy visiting with the people and inviting them to at least come and visit our church once.
Sometimes I add on their form (that I file) a little info about them ...such as recently lost their job, etc.
I honestly believe that the relaxed personal visiting may be what encourages them to come and visit our church....we have many who are regularly attending our church and a few have become members even.
I often try to encourage new people to come a half hour before regular evening services to get their food....but since I am retired I can be flexible with the appointments

These are the churches that I am aware of in this region that have food pantries in their local church.....DesMoines, IA, Council Bluffs, Atlantic,and Boone Ia...also Kearney, NE, and Lexington, NE.

Please email me at " This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it " if you would like to begin the process of applying to begin a food pantry in your church.

Our overseer, Jesse Yanez, is encouraging us to be an outreach in the local community via food pantries....and the benefit to the local members and friends in the church is phenomenal in these present economic struggles. We especially encourage our leadership to accept food boxes as well as our congregation.  We have no income guidelines, since that is not a requirement....but many Council Bluffs churches do ...which is understandable.

If you have recipes using food bank products we would appreciate your sending them to Ron Acker to post on the regional website.  We are thinking that those would be helpful to print and insert with each box of food...as well as a short welcome letter listing the times of local services etc.

God Bless You,
Sister Joyce Endecott

New Beginnings
Church of God of Prophecy
Council Bluffs, Iowa

For those of you who have a Facebook Account.....check out the Midwest COGOP Food Bank Site... http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Des-Moines-IA/Midwest-Region-COGOP-Food-Banks/281575989526?ref=mf