Feed the Need, the world hunger relief ministry of Stoneridge Church in Travelers Rest, is changing and impacting the lives of people in northern Greenville. 

Feed the Need, an emergency food assistance program, distributes 30-pound food boxes twice a month to needy families.  In May, the ministry distributed 398 food boxes, feeding nearly 1,000 individuals.

“Feed the Need has grown much more than I expected,” Brenda Haley, Feed the Need coordinator, said.

Haley, who has been the coordinator for eight months, recalls one family whose lives are changed as a result of Feed the Need ministry.

A mother of six began accepting food boxes from Feed the Need after her abusive husband left the home.  The family did not own a car, so a volunteer route driver from Feed the Need delivered the boxes to their home.  Because the route driver shared the Gospel with this family, three of the children now profess faith in Jesus.  The family is also active in a local church.

“The route drivers usually have a better chance of sharing the Gospel because they actually get to go into peoples’ homes,” Haley said.

According to Haley, Feed the Need has two purposes: to meet the physical and spiritual needs of local community residents.

“Wherever Jesus traveled, He fed people with bread and with His Bread of Life.  When we respond to hunger needs with food and the Gospel, we are being like Jesus,” Steve Scudder, SCBC mobilization strategist, said.

The ministry began in 1999 when Stoneridge church member, Anna Conn, compiled a food pantry at the church in preparation for Y2K.  Since no problems resulted from Y2K, Stoneridge had a supply of food on hand.  “When a family would call and request help, we offered them the food by the box full to meet their hunger needs,” Mike Neves, pastor of Stoneridge Church, said.

Eventually the food supply decreased; however, Don and Carole Womack, also church members, wanted to continue the hunger relief ministry.  This is when the ministry became known as Feed the Need.  According to Neves, the Womacks prepared the foundation for Feed the Need to operate.

Haley became the ministry coordinator after the Womacks left Stoneridge Church.  Wilton Miller, Haley’s brother, is the co-director, and volunteers also participate in the ministry.  Haley, who is disabled due to a head injury, said she “could not possibly do this ministry with out her brother and the volunteers.”

Monetary gifts and donations from churches, associations, and individuals for world hunger relief make life changing ministries like Feed the Need possible.

To make a donation, for more information about world hunger relief, or to start a world hunger relief ministry, contact the Missions Mobilization Group, SCBC, at (800) 723-7242, extension 5600, by emailing gloriashull@scbaptist.org, or online at www.scbaptist.org.