It is 2:35 Friday afternoon. Excited first- and second-graders begin bursting through the doors of Tri-C Elementary School in Carterville, Ill., eager to begin their weekend. Clutched tightly in the hands of many of the children are brown paper bags. Even at their young age the children know the bags are important. They hold most of the food the children will eat over the weekend.
According to an article in the current issue of OnMission Magazine, a publication of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the food is provided by GUM Drop Ministries, which is associated with First Baptist Church, Carterville. GUM stands for “God Use Me.”
A young women’s Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) group at the church recognized that children who depended on free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunches during the week often went hungry over the weekend. “Our economy is pretty shabby,” said Amy Simpson, leader of GUM Drop Ministries, as she reflected on her southern Illinois area. “There are few jobs here for parents.”
Twelve children received bags of child-friendly food the first week the ministry operated. That was four years ago. Now the ministry provides food for more than 1,300 students in 34 schools across six area counties. And the ministry has spread beyond the church. Most nights between 40 and 60 people work to prepare the bags of food. More than 1,000 volunteers have participated in the program coming from a variety of churches and denominations.
The SBC World Hunger Fund helped GUM Drop Ministries get started and continues to pay for some of the food distributed.
Alabama has similar problems to Carterville. On Aug. 23 an official with the United Way of Alabama told a group of concerned citizens he was glad school was back in session because it meant hundreds, if not thousands, of area children would no longer go hungry from lack of food. The official related how United Way receives countless calls every year as school nears an end from parents asking how they can find food for their children during the summer months.
In Alabama, like in southern Illinois, “our economy is pretty shabby.” And there is a direct correlation between unemployment, hunger and poverty.
Last week’s report from the U.S. Census Bureau offered some encouragement. Poverty declined in Alabama from 17.2 percent in 2010 to 15.49 percent in 2011. Still, almost one in six Alabamians live in poverty. For children, it is about one in four. Both figures are higher than the national average.
The median income of Americans edged up in 2011 but is still below where it was in 2008. Alabama’s median income is considerably below the national average.
Reports about hunger are not as encouraging. In 2011, 24.5 percent of Alabama residents were “food insecure.” That is, they could not afford enough food to eat, according to the Food Research and Action Center.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Household Food Security study found 7.1 percent of Alabama households experienced “very low food security” during 2011. That means there were times each month when one or more persons experienced hunger because they could not afford any food to eat.
Alabama was the second most food insecure state in the nation in 2011, the study said.
Food insecurity has increased dramatically in the last five years in Alabama, growing from 226,000 households to 317,000 households. The number of “very low food secure” families has more than doubled — from 62,000 to 128,000.
Participation in school feeding programs also grew as incomes fell and hunger increased. During the 2010–2011 school year, 376,942 students received free or reduced price lunches in Alabama. That is up almost 10 percent from the 2005–2006 school year. Participation in the school breakfast program has grown from 156,678 children five years ago to 184,620 last year, an increase of 17.8 percent.
Still Alabamians go hungry, including children and senior adults. A program like GUM Drop Ministries is needed in many Alabama communities.
In the OnMission article, NAMB reported assisting 2,000 different hunger ministries that resulted in providing more than 5 million meals during the last year. That was made possible by the World Hunger Fund offering sponsored by Southern Baptists. This year’s World Hunger Fund offering emphasis date is Sunday, Oct. 14.
Eighty percent of the receipts from the special offering are directed to the International Mission Board for use in hunger and general relief projects worldwide. NAMB receives 20 percent of the offering to use in the United States and Canada for projects such as GUM Drop Ministries. Every dollar of the offering goes for direct service. There are no administrative or promotional charges against the receipts.
Alabama gave $863,227.13 to the World Hunger Fund offering in 2011, about 10 percent of the total SBC amount.
In addition to contributing to the World Hunger Fund offering, many Alabama Baptist churches provide food pantries and other food-related ministries. All of these ministries are important. Jesus said when we minister to the “least of these” it is as if we are ministering directly to Him (Matt. 25:40). The poor, the hungry, the hurting are usually numbered among the voiceless. They have no lobbyist in Washington, no one looking after their needs. They need people like Amy Simpson and the young women’s WMU group at First, Carterville, who see as God sees and who respond in loving care.
In addition to needing people willing to provide direct service in the name of Jesus, the “least of these” also need advocates willing to make sure government programs focus on the needs of the hungry, the hurting and the poor.
A study by Pew Charitable Trusts found that, on average, government-related programs make up about 93 percent of all hunger-related assistance. All local food pantries, food-recycling programs and meal-serving programs combined make up about 7 percent of total food aid. The finding is not surprising considering the federal government contributed $180 million just to pay for Alabama’s school lunch program, to say nothing of the breakfast program and other federal programs.
Hungry and hurting people need Christians to work through organizations like Bread for the World to help the government express the compassion of its citizens and to ensure that government programs meet real needs and do not turn into private boondoggles for some special interest.
GUM Drop Ministries depends on the direct service of its volunteers. It depends on the corporate support of groups like Southern Baptists through the World Hunger Fund offering. And it depends on the advocacy of Christians who help shape government policies for regional food banks from which comes much of the food distributed. Each is important. Each is necessary. Each is a part of caring for the “least of these.”
So pray for the hungry and hurting in your community and around the world. Give to the World Hunger Fund offering. Find a place to demonstrate God’s love in direct service. And advocate for the needs of the “least of these.”
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