Siler City churches restart weekly food bank

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SILER CITY — After a month-long break, three Siler City churches’ weekly food bank started back up Tuesday morning in First Missionary Baptist Church’s parking lot — all thanks to a fresh infusion of federal dollars into the program that funded it.

Last spring, First Missionary Baptist, Holy Trinity United Holy Church and Moon’s Chapel Baptist Church partnered with Baptists on Mission — an auxiliary organization of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in Cary — to distribute thousands of food boxes across North Carolina every week. At first, they’d started out distributing between 50 to 75 boxes, but that number kept growing and growing; in October, Baptists on Mission designated them as a food hub and began sending them over 1,200 boxes a week.

“It’s unreal how big the need is,” said First Missionary Baptist’s associate minister, the Rev. Donald Matthews, who originally reached out to Baptists on Mission. “We’re just really happy to be able to serve.”

It’s all possible through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box program, a federal program created last year under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to feed families and provide a market for struggling food producers. Baptists on Mission was one among hundreds of organizations across the country to participate in the program.

The program underwent four rounds in 2020. The fourth round officially ended on Dec. 31, but in Siler City, the last distribution was Dec. 18. At the time, no one knew whether the program would return in 2021, and while the program ground to a halt, the need hadn’t.

“We’ve been receiving calls ever since the program has been down,” Matthews said, remembering the pains an 84-year old woman took to find out when the food bank would resume distribution. “... She asked one person who called another person, who called another person who got my number, and then it went back down the chain to her and she called me.”

On Jan. 4, the USDA announced a fifth round after Congress allocated an additional $1.5 billion for the program as part of the COVID-19 relief package passed on Dec. 21 and signed into law a week later. According to the USDA’s press release, the fifth round will continue through the end of April.

Each food box holds about $50 worth of fresh produce, dairy products and meats, and all three churches will be distributing them out in First Missionary Baptist’s parking lot every Tuesday morning until federal funding runs out.

“We have always alternated between Thursday and Friday,” Matthews said. “This will be the first Tuesday … we’ve ever done, but that’s all good.”

That’s not the only change, though.

In the fall, First Missionary Baptist had received about 1,248 boxes every week; now, Matthews said, they’ll be receiving about 1,092 boxes after at least one group dropped out or changed pickup locations.

They’ve also picked up some “new people,” Matthews said, including Love’s Creek, two churches from Troy in Montgomery County and another church from Carthage in Moore County.

“So that’s an expansion,” he said, adding, “They are actually coming to us to pick up and take it back to their respective areas. So that gives you a wider territory to cover, plus people they may not have ever received it before, so that’s just great.”

From late March to mid-December, First Missionary Baptist, Holy Trinity and Moon’s Chapel distributed tens of thousands of food boxes to over 30 organizations and churches. Matthews estimated that their food hub serves between six and eight counties, not just Chatham.

COVID-19’s economic fallout has hurt everyone, he said, whether Black or white, old or young. He thinks it’s been especially hard on Siler City, particularly since the economic Tier system — which the state uses to award counties grants and funding programs — often prevents Siler City and other pockets of Chatham from getting the help residents need.

“That means that Siler City suffers because the other side of the county is prospering,” he said, adding: “So that means we have to pay special attention to our own neighborhood … I do believe if we work at it, we could make a difference here, and this food bank has definitely made a difference. These food boxes have made a difference.”

To pick up food boxes, individuals only need to show up early on Tuesday mornings and get in line behind other cars at First Missionary Baptist. Individuals may collect up to 12 boxes, according to Matthews. Organizations, however, need to sign up.

“We have to know ahead of time because when we get our numbers, it immediately starts to be distributed on a spreadsheet, so we’ll know exactly what we’re doing with what we got — except for the general public,” Matthews said. “We just put (those boxes) to the side.”

Interested organizations can call Baptists on Mission directly at (919) 365-5606 or call Melinda Walden, First Missionary Baptist’s secretary, at (919) 742-4614.

“(The food bank) has been a phenomenal blessing across the board, and I’m just so happy to be a part of it,” Matthews said. “Thank God for it.”

Reporter Victoria Johnson can be reached at victoria@chathamnr.com.