Cultivate Community Church has been providing food for the Hamilton community since their first mobile food pantry distribution in 2019. What began as a distribution for 38 households has expanded exponentially. Now, on top of supplying food to 125-140 households on average, Cultivate Community Church has done precisely what their name suggests and fostered a welcoming community for everyone in attendance.
Jenna Walbeck, mobile food pantry coordinator at Cultivate Community Church, attributes this to kind-hearted volunteers and members of the community who are always actively looking to be involved.
“Our volunteers are genuine people with good hearts. I think you can just see that when you talk with them. I think that our volunteers are taking the time to stop and look them in the eyes and say, ‘How are you?’ And if we notice something off, we’ll stop and talk with them. I think people feel it. I think people feel like this is not just an in-and-out thing. We’re building relationships with people, and I think it’s just that connection that means the world to all of our visitors.”
During a recent mobile food pantry distribution, those connections were seen in different ways. Some neighbors carpool together to save gas and play cards while waiting in line. Others attend to pick up food for their friends and families.
“It’s a long line,” Jenna said, “but there’s lots of laughs and smiles the whole time.”
Although Cultivate Community Church technically runs the distribution, Jenna says it’s a solid small-town group effort. Volunteers from throughout the community are eager to help, including numerous organizations like Corner Bible Church, Hungry for Christ, Allegan County Community Foundation, Haven Church, and Love INC of Allegan County, who come out to provide additional resources for their neighbors.
In addition to those resources, neighbors in attendance are offered cooked food truck meals courtesy of ZOMburgers. The locals that run ZOMburgers approached Cultivate Community Church’s distribution because they loved what was being provided and wanted to see how they could play a role in feeding their community.
“I recommend it to anybody,” April, mother of three, says as she recounts her positive experiences with the food distribution. “If you need help, definitely ask for it. These are the guys that definitely will go out of their way to help, even if it’s not with food items. They definitely hook you up with resources even if they don’t have it here. And that’s what I like about this community, because they’ll do what they can.”
Coordinator Jenna Walbeck emphasizes the importance that this distribution has come to hold for our neighbors in Hamilton.
“It’s a food distribution that is doing so much more than feeding people. I think it is providing connection. I think there are people who this might be one of their only opportunities that they get to talk with people, have that connection, and build community. We’re feeding physically, but I also think that we’re feeding the hearts and souls of people and they’re getting those connections you don’t always get. I think it would be a huge disservice to not have this for every community because it is so much more.”
Thanks to the financial support of organizations like Perrigo, mobile food pantries in Allegan County are able to continue being welcoming avenues of community and compassionate providers of resources for everyone involved.