For the past nine months Mt. Airy Wesleyan has been a host site for Angel Food Ministries. We have been blessed to be a part of Angel Food. For those of you who may not know about Angel Food it is a non-profit, non-denominational ministry that was started in 1994 by the Rev. Joe Wingo family in Georgia. They wanted to help people to be able to buy food at a lower cost.
Each month we have two days that we take orders here at the church. For $30 you can buy food that would cost around $60-$70 in the stores. There are no requirements and anyone can purchase the food. We accept cash, checks, money orders and EBT cards. The week after you place your order you come back to the church between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to pick up your food. Food that is not picked up is donated to a needy cause and no refunds. This is an Angel Food policy not ours.
On the Saturday of distribution, Angel Food sends a tractor trailer truck with the food from Georgia. Our church members are here at 7 a.m. to unload and set up for the distribution. We have around fifty people from our church to come in and volunteer. I am very proud of our people and thankful for them that they are willing to serve the community in this way.
The only down side to this ministry is that each month there are always a few people who have forgotten to pick up their food and some get upset with us when they finally remember and find out the food was donated. We do not have freezer or storage space to hold the food. Each person has a receipt with the date and time of pick up. On the receipt it states that unclaimed food will be donated to others in need if not picked up at the designed time and no refunds — no credit for the following months. There are also posters on the door and order tables as a reminder. These are all policies established by Angel Food and our church is merely a host site working with Angel Food to serve the community.
As additional information the church does not keep any money that comes in, it all goes to Angel Food. Also we do not make any money off of orders that are not picked up. Each month we have between 500 to 800 orders and we do not have a staff to call and remind people to pick up their food. We understand and realize we are all human and sometimes we forget things, but please, if you forget, understand we’re doing our best to serve you, so please don’t blame the church if you forget.
We have been blessed by God to have this facility and the room to provide and share this ministry with you. That is what we wanted this ministry to be, a blessing to everyone involved.
Tammy Loman
Angel Food Coordinator
Mount Airy Wesleyan Church
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