The monthly food distribution at the Evart United Methodist Church is a well-oiled machine thanks to long-time volunteers like Donnie Sue Johnson and Alan Bengry. Each month Donnie Sue lines up approximately 25 volunteers and enough boxes for those volunteers to pack food for 220 families.
Volunteers inside the church make an assembly line to fill the boxes before the food distribution begins. Then two to three volunteers put the boxes on carts and push them outside. From there, Alan and his team of volunteers outside the church put food in trunks, backseats, and pickup beds.
“When the [Feeding America West Michigan] truck arrives at 2, we have an hour to fill the boxes,” Donnie Sue said. “Our church chose to take this one a few years ago, and we couldn’t do this without volunteers from our church, other local churches, and organizations. There is definitely a need. Sometimes people are in line by 10 o’clock and wait because they don’t want to miss it.”
Grateful Evart neighbors say food resources have changed their lives. At the distribution in October, the line stretched for three blocks by opening time. It included senior citizens waiting alone in their cars as well as families with children. One mother who declined to share her name was in line to pick up boxes for herself and three other households. As she described how she needed help to feed her family, two boys in football gear hopped in her vehicle. They needed to get through the line to get to football practice, and a third boy needed to get to an after-school job.
Area resident Vicky was in line for a box for herself, her son’s family, and an elderly couple who no longer drive. She said it’s important to her that she can help others by picking up the boxes while she also gets help for herself.
“I don’t get enough Social Security. I have a few jobs outside the home, but I don’t make enough where I can pay my bills and buy food,” she said. “I also help my son. He’s a single dad and I watch my granddaughter while he works. You know, things are tough for everybody. It’s not just me.”
The food is also a way for her family to spend time together while they share a nutritious meal.
“My birthday was last month, and for my birthday, I told my son, ‘Don’t buy me anything. Just fix me a nice dinner.’ We had gotten some red potatoes, so we boiled them, mash them, and then we put cheddar cheese on top and baked them and, oh, they were so good. So good and so cheap,” she said as she broke into a big smile.
Also a senior citizen like Vicky, Lynda heard about the food distributions in late 2024 when a friend from her church suggested she attend one. Lynda is also retired and getting by on Social Security. She relies on the fresh produce and dairy products to help her stay healthy and keep her Type-2 diabetes in check.
“This food is an answer to prayers,” she said. “It’s just good stuff — fruit and vegetables and usually a gallon of milk. We get potatoes all the time and cottage cheese. I still have to buy stuff, but this really helps tremendously.”
Thanks to the generosity of grantors like General Mills, we can supply nutritious meals to neighbors like Vicky and Lynda in Osceola County. With fresh produce and healthy essentials, neighbors with chronic conditions can keep those conditions in check through a reliable source of nutrition.