City of Lakewood Segment
Advancing Legacies of Radical Generosity for the HUNGRY – it is TIME
Advancing Legacies of Radical Generosity for the HUNGRY – it is TIME
Jeffco Eats is a mobile food pantry. People do not come to us we go to them.
We serve specifically and intentionally school children and families in four cities in Jefferson County, Colorado. We work year round and have over 30 sites that we bring food to weekly. We help over 1,000 families a week with shelf-stable produce and snacks. There are 10,000 kids in Lakewood alone who need help every week.
Interview with KLTT Public Affairs featuring
Barbara Moore, founder of Jeffco Eats
What time is it? God often asked his people to know the times and seasons we are in.
Here are some questions, asked discreetly of children and families in this time on earth in Colorado, about surging hunger in working poor families. Working poor means you work every week and do not make enough to cover basic needs like rent, food and utilities.
Food insecurity screening questions:
Would you consider this statement true, sometimes, or never . . .
- We worry about our food running out before we get money to buy more.
- The food we buy just does not last, and we do not have money to get more.
- I worry about not having enough to eat.
- I try not to eat a lot so our food will last.
- My parents don’t eat some nights so we can.
We must look and see, in heaven, very intentionally right now. To hear and see what God is saying for your call and my call.
Let us go up the mountain of the Lord . . . don’t run the other way and be afraid to go face to face with God. In Deuteronomy 5:23 it begins with dialogue of people fearing the presence of God and running the other way. God calls us to run towards him and open our hands and hearts in the ER (emergency room) time on the earth. In the ER you operate on a time and season of urgency. With so many people hungry in metro Denver and Colorado, the reputation of God, through His people, must surge in generosity for the hungry.
Deuteronomy 15:7 – 117 – If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
Verse 14 says if someone comes to you—supply them liberally, from what the Lord has blessed you with. Open our hands, unleash our hearts—It’s time for ER urgency for hunger needs.
The economics of the business of feeding the hungry has gotten so big in such a short time, and takes radical measures. It is not what we used to do.
What Does a Legacy of Generosity Look Like to God?
Church food pantries will never feed all the hungry people in Colorado right now—no way. Bread for the World Ministry Hunger By Numbers shows that the money needed to feed the poor was 102 billion in 2013 by federal programs vs $5 billion by Churches. The gap has grown much bigger and wider.
Jeffco Eats supplies foods for Title One schools with over 70 percent on free and reduced lunch. Which is basically a family of four earning 30k. Do the math… it costs about $28/hr to pay basic bills in metro Denver. Help is needed and it’s URGENT . . . a surge of generosity is needed to match needs.
In the ER everyone operates in urgency. I was a chaplain in the ER. In hospitals, there people running with paddles to shock people back to life. Where are your paddles?
How much should the body of Christ give to those who are working poor?—As much as they need.
You can help schools sign up for federal food programs, like Jeffco Eats is doing. Schools don’t have a food person on staff . . . It could be You!
Be openhanded, and do not let your heart be hard. Hard hearts hear news of hungry children up to 90 percent in schools around them and they hit the indifference button. Hard hearts pretend they don’t know what time it is, and that they, and we, are in the ER place of Gods heart.
What Can You Do to Advance Your Legacy of Generosity for Food as a Person or Family?
- Support a food ministry that is growing rapidly right now. We used to ask for money for a can of corn, then we asked for money for a case of corn, now we ask for money for a pallet of corn which is $3,000.
- Set a food donation tithe that grows each month. Food drives are helpful, but we need cities to do food drives to get truckloads not small amounts.
- Volunteer. Food pantries are ESSENTIAL SERVICES. They need help!
- Adopt a school with your church and neighbors and set God-sized goals. Many children never eat dinner.
Jeffco Eats doubled in size. We went from helping 500 kids a week to over 1,000 in 45 days. However, Lakewood, Colorado alone has 37 percent of hungry children. That is 10,000 children in just one city. The city of Denver has 70 percent poor. Every school has hungry kids.
Our goal is to establish a pantry collaborative to surge our capacity to feed 5,000 x 2 – that’s 10,000.
We know that collaboration reduces suffering. And we, in the coalition to end hunger in Lakewood, have a two year plan to take action steps toward crushing hunger for children.
To help support the the cause, please go to www.jeffcoeats.org and click ‘Donate’ or ‘Get Involved.’
Please join us in Prayer:
Jesus, look at me. Jesus look at US. Look at our hands, are they closed or open ?
Jesus look at me. Look at my heart. Is it hard Lord ? Am I avoiding helping others due to indifference ?
Father, help our family to make a one year plan to become more generous by quite a bit. A God-sized plan to become generous. There is really no such thing as stingy generosity. Let me be a widows mite in my heart and our families heart.
*Dial 211 if you need help or go to Hunger Free Colorado or Food Bank Rockies sites.
Jeffco eats – www.jeffcoeats.org
Email: jeffcoeats@gmail.com
Call : 720 231 8337
Jefferson County Integrated Food Task Forces Launches Public Service Campaign to Address Food Insecurities
Jefferson County, CO – As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began shutting down government, businesses and schools, Jefferson County took quick action and launched the Integrated Food Task Force to address food insecurity for all Jeffco residents. Partners span various sectors and are listed at the end of this release.
Since launch, this task force has established distribution sites for all areas of the county from the mountains to unincorporated south Jeffco. They ensured that food from the Food Bank of the Rockies and fresh pick-up food was available for everyone including homebound households. Each organization scrambled to change their distribution methods and recruit new volunteers (since a vast majority of volunteers are over 60) to serve double, triple or even quadruple the number of residents in need.
Food pantries across Jeffco are seeing 30-40% new households come for services. Many of these households have never needed food support and asking for help in this way is a difficult thing to do for the first time. To support these families, the task force aimed to destigmatize food pantry use, as the likelihood of food insecurity throughout the region will likely rise in the coming weeks and months.
That’s why our Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign was created. As so many have stepped up to help their neighbors and strangers, we want them to know it’s OK to help themselves as well. There is plenty of food for everyone. Please help us get the word out through our video PSA “Food for Everyone” https://youtu.be/_rD6FXwrPco or “Comidas Para Todos” https://youtu.be/5hEcBuFS8sU .
“As a Jefferson County community, we want to ensure that everyone has access to food and nutrition during this time,” Mary Berg, Executive Director of Jefferson County Human Services, said. “I am often wondering what I am going to make my family for dinner, and if you feel the same way, please stop by any of our food banks for some groceries to help put that next meal together. We will have something available for you today, tomorrow and in the future.”
Taskforce Partners Include: All Jeffco City Mayors, Integrated Family Community Services, Child and Youth Leadership Commission, Jeffco Connects, Jeffco Schools Foundation, Jeffco Public Schools, Hunger Free CO, Jeffco Eats, Religious-based pantries throughout Jeffco, Golden Backpack Program, Jefferson County Commissioners Tighe and Dahlkemper, The Action Center, David’s Sober Living, Seniors Resource Center, VOA, Mountain Resource Center, Jeffco Libraries, RTD, Benefits In Action, Boys and Girls Club, Lakewood CAT Team, Jeffco Chambers (Arvada, Conifer, Evergreen, Golden, West Metro and Westminster), Joy’s Kitchen, Community First Foundation, Community Table, Jeffco Human Services, Jeffco Public Health, Centura, Lakewood Hunger, Lakewood Connects, Bondadosa, Echo, Jewish Family Services, FBR, Brown Bag Ministries, Kaizen Food Rescue, Alameda Gateway, Mean Streets Ministry, Open Arms Food Pantry, One Arvada, congressional representatives and caring Jeffco residents.
Food Bank of the Rockies: How Your Gifts are Nourishing our Community
Thank you for making a difference for neighbors facing hunger during this crisis.
Over the past few weeks our community, our partners, and our organization have persevered through unprecedented challenges. Food Bank of the Rockies has restructured the way we operate to ensure that we and our food pantry partners on the frontlines are able to meet the increasing demand, while preparing for what we anticipate will be ongoing need in coming months. Here are just a few examples of the impact you have made possible during this crisis:
- Despite food shortages and food cost increases, we have leveraged new relationships and food sources to increase food procurement and distribution by more than 40%.
- Through drive-through distributions and partner food pantries, we have served more than 100,000 people in the past month alone.
- From Fruita to Basalt to Burlington in Colorado, and from Gillette to Jackson in Wyoming, we have increased food distributions in hard-hit mountain communities and rural areas with some food distributions having more than quintupled the number of people being served.
- More than 14,000 children no longer receiving school meals are receiving grocery boxes for their families, meals at childcare centers for essential workers, or grab-n-go meals across Colorado and Wyoming.
- More than 7% of the state’s workforce have now filed for unemployment – more people last week than in all of 2019. Because you continue to support our efforts, food will be there when paychecks are gone.
Your compassion is changing lives. Our volunteers and staff can only continue our important work because of your generosity. At times like this, people rise together, and we thank you for your amazing outpouring of support.
We know things will get better. We just don’t know when. And until that time comes, Food Bank of the Rockies will be here – nourishing people facing hunger. For as long as it takes. We appreciate your continued support!
Sincerely,
Erin Pulling
President & CEO
Food Bank of the Rockies
Gold Crown Foundation – Grocery Donation Program
Our partners at the Gold Crown Foundation are on a continued mission to serve our community. They have partnered with some local food delivery services to support families during these uncertain times.
Their goal is to start with the families connected to their program and serve the broader community if they are able. Gold Crown Foundation’s target each week is 150 families, but they cannot accomplish this without help from supporters like you!
If you are able to help serve these families, consider making a donation on their Grocery Program page.
Thank you in advance for your support!