Trinity is a rural church in a community with a population of less than 5,000. They began their Blessing Box during COVID. In January 2021, they installed a 2-shelf kitchen cabinet on legs in the front yard of the church, with signs encouraging people to “give back” to the box. The ministry seemed blessed by its location between the St. James High School and the Elementary School. In the beginning, the box was funded by the church and by member food donations. They stocked the box with canned meat and fish, dry milk, boxed Helper meals, mac and cheese, ramen, canned fruit, pasta, soup, veggies, peanut butter, rice or potato side dish packages. The box is filled two to three times each week. Trinity’s financial support shifted to quarterly donations from ECW, a monthly food item request, and ongoing donations. Parishioners are encouraged to donate from their home pantries, as well. The local schools and the nursing home have partnered with the parish to donate food items, and they have received some items from the St. James Fire Department holiday food drive. Occasionally, members of the community are observed dropping off items.
They received a grant from the Task Force on Hunger last year, and they have decided to use it to broaden the church’s blessing box contribution with a monthly request theme—a student snack month, a hygiene product month (frequently requested but not always available), meals in a bag with a recipe card included, like the metropolitan food pantries do. Every bag is itemized for cost, and during times of less interest in canned veggies and beans, they find recipes that use those items. They look forward to input from their clients—working adults, seniors, single mothers, unemployed, and unhoused. Some have left coins or books or extra food items as “give back” to the blessing box.