BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (KT) — Calvary Baptist Church’s food ministry dates back to 2000 but has now expanded to meet the growing need for food resources in the community.
Previously operating out of a 500-square-foot space, Calvary Care Center partnered with the local housing authority to construct a purpose-built building, enabling them to significantly increase their outreach to underserved populations.
The care center is now renting a building from the Bowling Green Housing Authority, said the pastor, David Gifford, which allows the center to extend its hours and avoid having to store food in different locations. The new building opened to the public on Monday.
(Photo submitted)
“We opened at 9 a.m. and had customers there by 7,” Gifford noted.
The food ministry partners with the housing authority as well as Feeding America and various local organizations.
“Through Feeding America, we provide USDA essentials,” Gifford said, “plus the food bank can purchase food from Feeding America for just a few cents, which helps supplement our essentials program. We also get a lot of donors, as Kroger, Big Lots and other local organizations do food drives for us.”
“We average over 200 families coming through the care center each month and providing food assistance,” Gifford said. “We expect at least a 30 percent increase over the next six months because we’ve never really promoted that we’re here before, it’s all been word of mouth. We’ve started reaching out to local relief organizations and they will let us know (that we’re here).”
Currently, the center is open on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon for food distribution. “We collect food the rest of the month,” Gifford said. “Within two months, we plan to expand our hours to include evenings and weekends to accommodate work schedules.”
Gifford has been with Calvary for 22 years, but noted that the work at the care center began before him: “The work has been phenomenal. We have a group of volunteers who are dedicated to this work. We’ve had about 25 to 30 volunteers and we’ve had three dedicated leaders from the beginning of the care center.”
“Retired couple John and Donna Lawyer have run the church for at least the last 10 years and have done a great job. Thanks to John’s vision and tenacity, we’ve been able to expand to new locations and reach more people. As a pastor, it’s nice to have an outreach where you can sit back and admire what’s going on there. This is one of those outreach activities. I’m not very involved, but I’m available if I have questions.”
The centre also has clothing on hand, and although they have not publicised the provision, donations are coming in to help meet the need. “We will be setting up a special room within the care centre so that they can have clothing ready while they receive the supplies,” he said.
Gifford said the center has also been able to meet other needs for families. “It’s amazing how the Lord has met people’s needs through the care center.”
Gifford said the new building will be on the opposite end of town from the church but will be more practical and efficient. “We were storing food in two locations at the church. The Housing Authority provided us with a shed for dry goods storage and we also kept some food in the garage. Now we’ll have everything under one roof.”
Calvary Care Center. (Submitted photo)
