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NEWS
Church works to feed needy children during summer
Feed the Children volunteers Norma Shy and Sharla Grafton prepare lunches recently at Sable Point.
Purchase this photoTEAYS VALLEY -- Sometimes the opportunity to serve other people knocks on your door. Other times it kicks the door in.
Pastor Jeff Johnson and members of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Scott Depot experienced the latter after starting a Backpack Blessing program this spring. The project provides a weekend supply of food for at-risk children who attend Mountain View Elementary School.
As the summer months approached, Johnson and church members started to wonder how the children would cope while school was out. That's when the doors swung wide open to start a program they call Feed the Children, which provides lunch to kids while they're out of school.
"If the kids were at risk for not having food Friday to Sunday when school was in session, what would happen to them Sunday to Sunday when school was on summer break?" Johnson said. "Through a contact in the state Senate, we spoke with the Office of Child Nutrition and discovered there were dozens of kids at risk for not having sufficient or any food during the summer. So our church took responsibility for the 12 weeks, every day, Monday through Friday."
The government-funded program, officially known as the Summer Feeding Program, has helped provide a much-needed service to children on summer vacation in Teays Valley.
"The project has obviously met a physical need by providing them a daily meal," Johnson said. "But, beyond that, it has met an emotional and social need for these kids who often fend for themselves throughout the day and even night because their parents are away and/or at work.
"They need this critical interaction with people who are steady and stable, who they can rely on and depend upon. There are some kids who now come to the daily distribution more because of the interaction than for the food, though the kids don't turn that down, either."
The food is prepared at Hurricane Middle School and distributed each day at the Sable Point community center between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Johnson, who serves as vice president of the Teays Valley Ministerial Association, offered the opportunity to serve to other churches.
Besides Mount Vernon Baptist, the following churches are also participating: Teays Valley Church of God, Scott Depot Christ Fellowship, St. John's Methodist Church, Teays Valley Church of the Nazarene, St. Timothy's-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, First Baptist in Hurricane, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Community Church of Hurricane and Winfield Community Church.
"I thought, though we could do it on our own (our church, Mount Vernon Baptist, is large enough to make that happen) what a witness it would be to the community to see churches from various persuasions and opinions come together for a common good to address a community need," Johnson said.
"We may, as churches, not come together in one place on Sunday mornings, but throughout the summer, Monday through Friday, we can be found working side by side at Sable Point to ensure that kids at risk of not eating throughout the summer are being fed. We are literally the hands and feet of Christ, sharing the Gospel in both word and deed."
Johnson said the work has caused those serving to count their blessings. "It has caused everyone to appreciate even more what we have and acknowledge that indeed we are blessed," he said. "This valley is the most affluent in the entire state. The median income is three times the national poverty level. People don't realize that, in the greater Teays Valley area, there are 1,200 people under the poverty level and of that number, over half are kids.
"I have taken my own children, as many other adults have done, to help them to realize how blessed they are, especially when they clamor for a newer cell phone, a better iPod, more clothes, etc. There isn't anything wrong with these things, as long as we remember those who have less and are intentional about making sure we don't leave anyone behind."
Johnson himself grew up in a single-parent home and knows what it's like to struggle. As one of six children of a single mother, he said his experiences motivated him to help Putnam County children in similar circumstances.
In addition to being lead pastor at Mount Vernon Baptist, Johnson serves as director of Evangelism for the American Baptist Church. He's written a book on the subject, "Got Style? Personality-Based Evangelism," available through Judson Press.
"It is my denominational responsibility to help churches connect with their communities. I have been doing this kind of work for nearly a decade," he said. "If I can help churches from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., from Alaska to Puerto Rico, why can't I do the same right here where I live with the churches that comprise my community. If the principles work for Baptists, they ought to work for all. And sure enough they have!"
The "Feed the Children" program continues through the week before school starts in Putnam County.
