On August 11th, a group of Christ-followers volunteered their time to serve at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. As one volunteer mentioned, “As a church, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to food distribution to less fortunate people, but what we do need to do is offer a helping hand by sacrificing some of our time and putting our prayers into action.”
During the last fiscal year, volunteers at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada provided 6,419.75 hours of service� the equivalent of three full-time positions. Using an estimated value of $12 per hour, the value of volunteer hours saves the Food Bank’s operating budget $77,000 a year in labor expenses.
For the two short hours that we volunteered, we were able to pack nearly 10,000 pounds of food for distribution! Just a small dent in the 100,000 pounds annually sent to low income seniors and families throughout northern Nevada.
As we look at the numbers of needy people in our country and the world these 10,000 pounds of food seem, well, miniscule. But we must, as a group of Christ-followers, start somewhere and the best place is outside our own front door. When asked why they were spending their Saturday afternoon in a warehouse packing boxes of food, one volunteer replied that, “God’s blessings come with responsibilities.”
If you live in Reno, please join us next time we volunteer at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. You won’t regret it. Click here for Future Coram Deo Events.
If you don’t live in Reno, then find your own local food pantry and volunteer your time there to bless others.
More information about the Food Bank of Northern Nevada [Food Bank of Northern Nevada]
The Cold Hard Facts on Hunger in the U.S.
*Approximately 4.5 million people receive emergency food assistance in any given week
*36.4% of the members of households served are children under 18 years old
*8% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years
*10% of the members of households are elderly
*68% have incomes below the official federal poverty level
*12% are homeless
*42% had to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel
*35% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage
*32% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care
*Food banks are by far the single most important source of food for the agencies, accounting for: 74% of the food distributed by pantries, 49% of the food distributed by kitchens, and 42% of the food distributed by shelters
*As many as 90% of pantries, 86% of kitchens, and 71% of shelters in America use volunteers
*Many programs rely entirely on volunteers: 66% of pantry programs and 40% of kitchens have no paid staff at all
The World We Live In:
*Half the world—nearly three billion people—live on less than two dollars a day.
*20% of the population in developed nations consume 86% of the world’s goods.
*According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. That is about 210,000 children each week or nearly 11 million children under the age of five per year.
The word of God through his prophet Amos to his country that lacked social justice:”I hate, I despise your religious feasts: I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Amos 5:21-24
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