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September 2004 |
Gleaning:
a biblical practice that feeds hungry Hoosiers
By Matthew Oates
David McCleary serves a mission to make sure that Hoosiers statewide have food. The North Indiana Conference appointed him in three years ago as the conference's hunger relief advocate. He works with North Indiana's United Methodist Men and the Society of St. Andrew to increase awareness of the biblical concept of gleaning.
Since his first year, which showed 81,184 pounds of food distributed to 18 agencies across North Indiana, McCleary and volunteer district hunger relief advocates have increased the food distributed to 202,286 pounds and 77 agencies.
"We are making progress and we're helping to feed the hungry," says McCleary. "Each year we have done better than the previous year."
Gleaning comes in a variety of ways. Volunteers glean by digging up extra potatoes at a Frito-Lay test plot fields, picking extra fruit in an orchard, and by working with food distributors or manufacturers and sending their extra food and damaged cans to food agencies.
The Society of St. Andrew is an ecumenical agency started by United Methodist ministers who work with agencies to get extra produce in the hands of those who need food and is supported by United Methodist Men.
To raise awareness, the Society works with UMM to place in each conference a hunger relief advocate. As of January, 20 annual conferences in the United States have such an advocate including North Indiana.
McCleary, who has a farming and Christian education background, was approached by Brent Julian, former North Indiana UMM president, about being North's hunger relief advocate. After much prayer and thought, McCleary agreed as he felt moved to help the thousands of Hoosiers who needed food.
Why gleaning?
Indiana has been bleeding financially since the national economic downturn three years ago. Among the 50 states, Indiana is number one in the percentage of most jobs lost, number one in bankruptcies, number one in home foreclosures, and number 50 in job growth.
Meals for Millions Donations - NIC |
||
|
Year |
Increased | Increased |
|
2000 |
$945.00 | |
|
2001 |
$4,267.00 | 452% |
|
2002 |
$4,310.00 | 1% |
|
2003 |
$4,768.47 | 11% |
According to McCleary, there are more than the usual amount of Hoosiers who have fallen on economic hardships and are using more social service agencies, such as food banks and pantries. "I'm sure it hurts their pride," he told Together. "You have to ask for help; we're there to help."
Sometimes it is more economical for farmers to leave crops in fields than harvest them because crop prices are low. "As much waste as we have, why not go out and glean these fields as they did in biblical times and use this produce to help feed the hungry?" asks McCleary.
Willie Green of Delaney United Methodist Church in Gary serves as Calumet District's hunger relief advocate and has been involved with gleaning for two-and-a-half years. Knowing his area is in need is why he's involved. His church's food pantry receives some food from SOSA, as well as delivers food to an area homeless agency.
"We're helping people who need help. A lot of people are working everyday, but they don't have enough finances to take care of their families. That's really helping those people," said Green.
As the needs have increased, McCleary and his network of advocates have developed relationships with farmers, food agencies and businesses across the state in making sure food gets to where it is needed. One of those relationships has been with Marsh Supermarkets. McCleary works with Marsh in coordinating picking up extra food from their Indianapolis warehouse and then distributing the food to agencies in North Indiana communities with a Marsh store.
For the donations, the farmers and businesses receive a tax donation slip based on poundage and not dollar value for tax purposes. "They do use it as a tax deduction. I think it's also a wise way to say 'thank you,'" said McCleary.
Gary Hostetler, Kokomo District UMM president, says gleaning also is a mission that all generations can participate in. "God's opening this up. This is hands-on, helping people," he said. "The best evangelism you can do is to take food to the hungry. Jesus believed in feeding the hungry. We get to see miracles happen."
The need is there
The Rev. Linda McBride of Muncie's Covenant Partners knows about those miracles. Covenant Partners has a food pantry that provides food to people on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. During June, they served 235 people. "We have to limit (the amount of food) because of our funds."
Covenant Partners received a load of potatoes and 640 pounds of salvaged food from Marsh earlier in the year. "We did get quite a few banana boxes of food. It was a blessing," says McBride. "I was just about out of funds. It was a good thing."
The food came at the right time as well. By the fourth Thursday, the pantry is almost bare as people are approaching their end-of-month expenses. Other sources for food include Second Harvest in Anderson, as well as receiving support from Muncie area United Methodist and other churches.
With the economy ebbing and flowing, out of the 235 people, 107 of them were new to the food pantry. "We have new people coming all the time. Some of those people have never used a food pantry before," McBride said, citing layoffs and other poor economic factors. "It has increased over the past six years."
The people who utilize the food pantry are thankful for the donations coordinated and delivered by SOSA and the North Indiana UMM. "That is such a neat thing and such a treat," saying that pudding snacks, chips, fruit snacks and other items were much appreciated as a treat for all, especially the children.
In the Randolph County community of Parker City (population 1,250) the United Methodist Church Food Pantry has seen an increase in numbers: 74 different families for a total of 281 people during the month of June. "Even though we're in a small community, we really do fill a need," said the Rev. Sherrie Drake, pastor of Parker City UMC. "It's kind of surprising because we're in a rural county."
Drake cites the emergency food pantry for helping the working poor and those on fixed incomes, as well as many people who are moving to rural communities for lower rent and cost of living, but less social service agencies.
The church's food pantry received 200 pounds of potatoes and 640 pounds of food earlier in the year as well. "It was fun to see families take home a good portion of the potatoes. They went fast," she said.
Drake, the food pantry committee and the residents are quite thankful for the work of SOSA and the North Indiana UMM. According to Drake, the youth now want to glean in the future. "I think it is a tremendous example of the way we are connected to one another.
Anything is possible
With farmers now calling McCleary, he works with them and his volunteers to provide healthy and nutritious food. "Nutrition is the big key," he said. "People just don't know how to prepare them (the fruits and vegetables) properly."
Some of the foodstuffs gleaned include pumpkins, potatoes, turnips, apples, green beans, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, eggs, canned veggies and juice drinks. SOSA has even had bottled water and Diet Pepsi donated to them from a community event.
In addition, SOSA will provide free truckloads of potatoes to the hunger relief advocates. The advocates only need to provide funding for transportation. Communities such as Gary, Anderson, Kokomo and Lafayette have received potato drops.
But in order to get the food into the hands of those who need it, McCleary and his advocates need help. "I have the produce. I have the farmers. I do not have the volunteers."
In addition to volunteers, McCleary works with other annual conferences and hunger relief advocates in the region, especially if a delivery is being made to Northwest Indiana or anywhere along Indiana's border with Michigan and Ohio.
But when he's delivered food, he's done more than just his role of eye-opening and raising awareness. "Sometimes, I just sit there and observe" people crying and thankful for the food. "I've had them give me hugs," says McCleary. "We're going to do our duty. Hunger is a problem. Hunger is a tragedy, especially here in the U.S. We're the richest country in the world and we have hunger."
Other ways to help
Gleaning is just one program the North Indiana Conference United Methodist Men are involved with. Another program is the General Commission of the UMM's "Meals for Millions" program, which is another way to provide funding for hunger relief programs through SOSA. According to McCleary, North Indiana is traditionally in the top 10 conferences who provide funding.
For more information, contact McCleary at 574-269-1143 or at hranin@endhunger.org.
North Indiana Hunger Relief Advocate contact information:
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Calumet: Willie Green of Gary
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Huntington: Ron Neff of Warren
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Kokomo: Gary Hostetler of Kokomo
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Lafayette: Peter Gray of Lafayette
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Michiana: Ray Rockenbaugh of Goshen
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Muncie: George Wilson of Selma
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Warsaw: Brent Julian of Warsaw
For more information, log on to Society of St. Andrew Web site at www.endhunger.org
Matthew Oates serves as a correspondent of Hoosier United Methodist Together. He is an United Methodist and lives in Lafayette, Ind.
Last updated on 08/23/2004