A long time ago and half a world away, an impoverished widow went to worship. Unlike the rich, she could offer only two small coins known as mites. Unknown to her, Jesus of Nazareth was watching.
The gospel text sums up the lesson drawn from her life: “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had — all she had to live on.”
The concept of the poor helping the poor isn’t exactly new, but it is being lived out as the residents of a subsidized housing complex, many of whom are single mothers living below the poverty line, collected 3,173 items for a food bank.
The residents live in the Jordan Cove Apartments, 901 FM 517 W., in League City. The ministry they are assisting is Pine Drive Community Church’s Brown Bag food outreach.
In 2008, the Cove collection amounted to 46 cans.
What made the change? A healthy dose of faith and hard work, organizers said.
Apartment manager Brenda Flagg said when she learned the shelves at Brown Bag’s food pantry were low, she wanted to ask her residents to help.
“We worked with our kids who go door to door each Sunday to collect cans,” she said. “We have a lot of single parents who cannot provide for their kids, but it took off, and they gave every week. It made my heart love them even more.”
Members of Pine Drive adopted Jordan Cove “with their after-school tutorials and Bible school help, and we have, in turn, responded,” Flagg said.
Joe Gilder didn’t intend to head this ministry. He’s in his 70s and really shouldn’t be lifting heavy boxes — a fact that his small staff gently reminds him of from time to time. But his only complaint is about the traffic. Each week, he goes to the Houston Food Bank to pick up 3,300 pounds of groceries, which are then shoehorned into his red pickup.
“We have a lot of traffic problems, even though we leave the church at 6:15 a.m.,” he said. “We used to give out 30 to 40 bags to the needy each Tuesday, but now we’re passing out up to 100 bags.”
That’s 1,345 folks a month, according to ministry figures. It’s a dramatic increase as more unemployed, transient and homeless people are coming to the weekly distribution of food.
John Baker, recently retired, is Gilder’s assistant. Baker and his wife, Jennifer, helped with Pine Drive’s Vacation Bible School at Jordan Cove.
“I came down from Chicago, and now that I’m not working, we both volunteered to help Joe out,” John Baker said. “We work with the kids who live here, and it has turned out pretty nice.”
Carmen Mosholder is one of the residents who participated in both the VBS and the food drive.
“We got a pretty good response from my fellow residents,” she said. “There are a lot of kids here. My kids were at the Bible school every day.”
Pine Drive’s pastor, the Rev. Ted Duck, has encouraged his flock to practice community ministry. The church has crossed ethnic, language and cultural barriers.
“We have mentors helping the kids here with their schoolwork, and their residents are singing in our choir,” he said. “We’ve bonded with the folks here now.”
Gilder has a simple request for those passing down FM 518. He’d appreciate your leftover plastic grocery sacks.
“We could use a lot of plastic bags, which are good for putting produce in,” he said. “We use 150 every week.”
Though they are not the original Kraft paper ones that served as the source for Brown Bag’s name, they are the best way to deliver hope to the needy each Tuesday. Bags, as well as nonperishable food, can be dropped off at the church office, 705 FM 517 E., in Dickinson, during regular business hours.
“When folks need help, our only qualification is this: If they’re hungry, we’re going to feed them,” Gilder said.
Columnist Rick Cousins’ can be reached at ourfaith(at)galvnews.com.
