Over 220 cars pulled through Shawnee United Methodist Church’s Holiday Food Pantry Saturday.
LIMA — Over 200 people showed up Saturday for Shawnee United Methodist Church’s mobile food pantry and for good reason.
Russ Decker, special projects manager for the Lima Nutrien facility, said that he knew the drive-through event took place every other month, but since the church is right around the corner from the company’s plant, they decided to help out by donating turkeys and extra food for the holidays.
“About 20 of our employees are out here to help the distribution and they’ve been averaging about 180 cars each food drive,” Decker said. “We’re going to be well over 200 today, so this is great.”
Rev. Lori Reiber, the lead pastor at Shawnee United Methodist, said that she also noticed the difference.
“It’s been a little more overwhelming than some of the other ones we’ve done, as we’ve had probably over 220 cars or so,” she said. “But it’s exciting and sad at the same time. I’m glad we’re able to help, but we know there’s a need that we’ve been trying to meet during our food pantries.”
Nutrien brought 190 turkeys to give away and Reiber said that it was partly motivated by some members of the church.
“One of our key leaders in this ministry works at Nutrien, and he’s been sharing what he does and how much he loves the ministry,” she said. “It’s been a blessing for us. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to continue to partner with them in the future.”
From there, it was a matter of putting things together and putting the work in.
“Cars were lined up at about 6 a.m. before a lot of us got here, but when the truck comes in from the food bank, we unload and then it’s pretty busy,” Reiber added. “I was just excited and pleased. We know Nutrien is a generous company so we were happy to partner up.”
Decker said the event left a big impression on him.
“I think what it really drove home to me and everyone else here how big the need is locally,” he said. “Hunger is one of those things that’s hard to see, but food pantries like this really help people stretch their food budget, especially at the holidays when there are a lot of distractions for where money might go.”
Reiber said that it is all a part of following the church’s mission of being out in the community and serving people in need.
“This church is wonderful at that and it’s a blessing to get to be their pastor,” she said. “It’s a blessing for me to be their leader and get to watch other leaders like Chris Shepherd work. She really takes it to heart and does a wonderful job.”
Decker expressed hope that more organizations will try their own version of Saturday’s event.
“I would like to see more people replicate this,” he said. “I think anything anyone can do to help someone with one more meal on their table or a nice holiday meal should take this time of year to reach out and try to help them.”
Reiber said that other churches around Lima hold their own food pantries, but that there are plenty of avenues for others to start their own events.
“I think a couple of others do a drive-through or in-house pantry,” she said. “And if you’re interested, the West Ohio Food Bank is a great resource and you can always reach out to us and we would be happy to share what we’re doing.”
For information on the West Ohio Food Bank, visit their website, westohiofoodbank.org.
For more information on Shawnee United Methodist Church and their mobile food pantries, visit its website, shawneeum.church, and follow it on Facebook.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
