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COVID-19 Food Pantries

ACS Food Pantries Continue Operations

The North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not only seeking to care for its own during this COVID-19 crisis, but to be the hands and feet of Jesus and reach out to those around us who are suffering. Through Adventist Community Services (ACS), we are pushing out more than $1.5 million to assist our local churches in providing food to our neighbors through food pantries. ACS is also partnering with other church organizations to do what they can to make a difference. I appreciate our team at our headquarters and those in local fields who are working to make a difference. Together we are stronger!

Bonita Shields, Vice President for Ministries, North American Division

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UPDATE – may 5, 2020

  1. Minnesota Conference has eight ACS food pantries. Minneapolis First Church has been serving their community for over ten years through their food pantry operations and over 20 with clothing. South Saint Paul Hispanic Church which is another active ACS Center has been serving their community for over three years.
  2. Mountain View Conference has three ACS food pantries in West Virginia. The Grace Community Church in Logan is currently putting together food baskets and dropping them off on the porches of needy families. Due to COVID-19, they are somewhat limited like everyone else. When possible they will be opening a feeding facility/homeless shelter with cots, showers, food, Bible studies, job opportunities, and etc. in partnership with the Homeless Coalition of WV. The Frostburg SDA Food Pantry is currently serving 30 families, or 75 to 90 persons with food products. The RHEMA CHRISTIAN CENTER has everything in place to start a new food pantry when quarantine is lifted. The food pantry will be in association with the Friends-R-Fun Clinic and Daycare.
  3. Northern New England Conference has ten ACS food pantries. One of the active ones are White Memorial Food Pantry in Portland, Maine, which is open every Thursday morning and serves about 500 families per month. Many of those served are recent immigrants who are very hard hit by job losses during the shutdown. The food pantry is well known in the community and has a good relationship with the regional food bank and a commercial bakery. Auburn SDA Church’s Food Pantry in Auburn, Maine, is open one day a week providing fruit, produce, rice and beans. They serve a population of particularly limited means, and also deliver food boxes to people with mobility issues.
  4. Potomac Conference has ten ACS food pantries. Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) serves hundreds of meals and food boxes per week to a large population of the Maryland portion of the conference. This center is sponsored by several regional SDA churches. Petersburg SDA Food Pantry in Virginia is serving pre-packaged boxes and bags of food, hygiene, sanitary supplies, and etc. based on family size. Selected volunteers are assisting seniors and physically-challenged clients by taking their items to their vehicle. This pantry is feeding 75 seniors in the area who have had their weekly meal deliveries canceled. Moreover, they’re delivering daily meals to a “rather large” mobile home community of little-to-no income families.

    The Piney Forest ACS Center normally provides a weekly open day for needy community members to come and register for food, clothing, and other support. During the COVID-19 period, clients must call ahead with their needs. Volunteers purchase, pack, and deliver the required items which are left on the client’s porch to maintain social distancing. Community Praise Church (CPC) partners with two other community organizations—Carpenters Shelter Staff and Residents and Alive Alexandria. CPC, formerly named Community Praise Center, provides lunch meals to homeless, vulnerable, and workers who serve them in the Alexandria area. Beltsville Adventist Community Center (BACC) works closely with local government and community organizations to help those hardest hit economically in Beltsville and the surrounding areas. During the COVID-19 response, pre-packaged meals and purchased food baskets are provided through a curb-side pick-up program in the BACC parking lot.

  5. Guam-Micronesia Mission does not have any formal food pantries. However, they have churches that engage in feeding programs. The Agat SDA Church has been actively operating a food pantry for COVID relief. Additionally, a youth mission trip that was cancelled due to the pandemic distributed food that was donated for the project to needy families. GMM is working with the individual islands to determine the relative needs.
  6. Oklahoma Conference has eight ACS food pantries. Joseph’s Storehouse Food Pantry in Muskogee, and Jay Food Pantry in Jay are two of the active ACS facilities serving communities in the state of Oklahoma.
  7. Wisconsin Conference has five ACS food pantries. The Milwaukee Central SDA Church’s food pantry has opened its doors to anyone in need in the area. They have been helping people who are unemployed with their rent. They also went to the extent of covering hotel expenses for a lady with her child for a few days when they became homeless. The Milwaukee Central Hispanic, Madison Community, and Beloit SDA churches have all been helping their communities with non-perishable food, personal hygiene items, and other needs by whatever means possible.

Update – April 23, 2020

    1. British Columbia Conference has ten ACS food pantries. The Better Living Center’s Courthouse Ministry engages in hot meal programs that helps around 300 court attendees a year. McBride Church has a food hamper and a food bank program, too.
    2. Iowa-Missouri Conference has nine active ACS Centers. The Around Town Mobile Food Pantry serves over 500 people monthly in the Des Moines area. The St. Louis ACS Center, Gallatin ACS and Centralia SDA food pantries are also continuing their operations. Golden Valley SDA Church in Clinton, MO is part of the local food bank network and they have monthly food drop off drive-throughs that serve a large number of people.
    3. ACS Centers in Nevada-Utah, Georgia-Cumberland, and Pennsylvania conferences are currently engaged in drive-through food distribution, as well.
  • Lake Region Conference has 14 ACS food pantries who are doing magnificent work. The Flint ACS Center continues to serve over 200 people a week with food and water. The Capitol City Food Pantry has done exemplary work over the years, serving their community daily from 1 am – 1 pm. They help hundreds every week by distributing food and clothing.
  • Southern California Conference has 31 food pantries which are spread out across five counties. There are so many churches that are giving away free food. The 54th Street Church has been distributing meals for several years now. It is one of several churches that’s located in the heart of South-Central Los Angeles. The other church is the University SDA Church. Both churches minister to hundreds of families every other week. The families in these communities are dependent upon these ministries to keep food on the table, especially now with the COVID-19 and the loss of jobs.

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ConfDirectors Local Conference NEWS

Bob Mitchell Receives Volunteer of Year Award

Bob Mitchell, ACS and DR Coordinator of the Potomac Conference, is not only actively involved with ACS and VOAD, but also volunteers with the local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) as an instructor. He has been serving on their Steering Committee for over a decade and is a CERT staple every season, attending most of the classes and offering his wonderful insight and experiences to their students. Bob, who has always been a vital part of the CERT program, won the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award presented by the Virginia Emergency Managers Association (VEMA).
Bob+Mitchell.jpg

This year, he went above and beyond and attended every level 2 course for their fall program. When the instructor for the very first class of the season had to cancel at the last minute – literally five minutes before the class was scheduled to start – without a second thought, Bob jumped to the front of the room and with grace and ease co-taught the class with Maribel Street, Acting Emergency Management Coordinator of Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle Office of Emergency Management.

“Bob’s continued displays of passion and his effort to ensure we have a well-rounded program, is truly inspiring. Our students love coming to class to soak up Bob’s stories and learn about all the opportunities CERT has to offer,” stated Ms. Street. The Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle CERT program has taught over 1,000 individuals and continues to increase enrollment each season, thanks to leaders like Bob, who drive student participation and create strong volunteers. “I wish every CERT program had a member like Bob. He has made an immeasurable impact on our program and in our community,” continued Ms. Street.

Categories
Food Aid Food Pantries

Escanaba ACS Food Pantry in Michigan

Escanaba ACS Food Pantry, located in Escanaba, Michigan is one of the only Food Pantries in the Upper Peninsula. Being that it is the one of the only, they engage in mobile food pantries to different counties also to reach those who are in need. Director Robin Wycoff reported that they had over 1200 families last week that lined up for miles to come and get food that they needed. She says, “It was such an amazing, yet sad day; they served so many but had to also turn away just as much because they ran out of food.” They are currently working with Feeding America and are seen as the main point of getting food to people in the Upper Peninsula. They have been asked to step up by the Feeding America CEO when other pantries have either shut down or are unable to open due to fear. Without any hesitation, Robin expressed her willingness to step in and continue serving the community in this pandemic. The Escanaba Food Pantry currently operates on Mondays and Fridays, and will run three mobile pantries in April and May.

“Don’t you just praise God for our Escanaba team! Also thank you Pastor Daniel Rodriguez as he supports and serves his ACS Food Pantry! I am just praising the Lord more and more everyday for this work!!,” said Chelli Ringstaff, Director of Community Service/Disaster Response, Michigan Conference.

Here is a link to a news story on the Escanaba ACS Food Pantry.

Categories
COVID-19 Local Conference

Showers of Blessings During COVID-19

Serving in metropolitan areas such as New York City where various races, cultures, customs, backgrounds, and beliefs are found can be quite challenging, especially during difficult times such as what we are facing with COVID-19. While this pandemic continues to create challenges and struggles for many in our society, God has allowed the Greater New York Conference Adventist Community Services to serve through their Showers of Blessings Ministry.

The Showers of Blessings Ministry started in January of this year by helping different organizations serve the homeless population in their respective areas. One of them is the Warming Center at the Omega Seventh-day Adventist Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Following safety protocols, this church has managed not only to provide warm meals, but also hygiene methods on a daily basis for up to 70 homeless people in their city.

The Showers of Blessings Ministry also continues to partner with the St. Joseph’s House in New York City in their mission to serve 50+ persons with the facility to take warm showers and provide hygiene kits as this organization provides warm meals, clothing, shelter, and other services in the community. At St Joseph’s House, hygiene methods during COVID-19 have become one of their main priorities to prevent the spread of the virus, along with social distancing.

The Bowery Mission is another organization located in New York City that helps the homeless population in multiple locations throughout the area. Serving up to 100 people per day, the Showers of Blessings Ministry has been helping them promote hygiene and continue social distancing through their mobile showers. Due to COVID-19, many locations are adjusting to new operational protocols. This is most important for the Showers of Blessings Ministry when providing support to other organizations.

“In times like these, people seek hope and what better way to show it then by serving in different ways through Christ’s name. We are reminded that the smallest action of caring and helping others conveys compassion as Christ would have done,” said Pr. Luis Biazotto, ACS Director of the Greater New York Conference.

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Categories
Food Pantries Local Conference

Pasco Riverview Community Services

The Pasco Riverview Community Services has been serving the Tri-Cities metropolitan area in Washington State for several years. It is located right next to the Riverview Adventist Church. This ACS Center consists of four buildings – a food bank, a small thrift store, a large diaper bank supporting many non-profits and faith-based ministries throughout Tri-Cities, and a storage garage. Their food bank feeds around 1,600 families a month. They continue serving through the COVID-19 pandemic to provide emergency food assistance as demand rises.

On Monday, they received 28 pallets of food. Their food shelves were very bare and they weren’t sure how much food they would get from their single truck load from Second Harvest. However, they ended up receiving three truck loads of non-perishable food items, dog food, and diapers from three different sources. “It was like a fulfillment of the verse in Malachi were it talks about the windows of heaven opening and the blessing being poured out that there is not enough room to receive it,” said Stan Arlt, Co-Director of Pasco Riverview Community Services. Since many of their volunteers are students and older adults, some members of the Washington National Guard have stepped in to help mobilize food distribution in the Pasco community. Read more about it here.

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Disaster Response Local Conference Tornadoes

South Central Conference ACS Disaster Team Responds to Nashville Tornadoes

UPDATE: March 13, 2020

South Central Conference Adventist Community Services Disaster Response volunteers are distributing hygiene kits, bottled water and sack lunches in the community assisting those families impacted by the March 3, 2020 tornadoes that ripped through the Nashville area.

Christine Washington, President of Middle TN ACS Federation, Regina Stevenson, Federation ACS Disaster Response Coordinator and their team members walked the streets performing Mobile Distribution in the affected area. Pastors James Owens and Ronnie Forte provided grief counseling to the survivors.

If you would like to help, the best way is to donate MONEY. You can send your monetary donation to:
South Central Conference
715 Youngs Lane
Nashville, TN 37207

Mark your donation “ACS Disaster Nashville.”

PLEASE NO USED CLOTHES OR USED ITEMS!!!

Report by: Lillie Buckingham & Barbara Barnes, SCC Directors
Photos by: Jonathan Freeman

Categories
Disaster Response Tornadoes

Tornadoes Rip through Tennessee

Homes damaged by storms are left in ruin Tuesday, March 3, 2020, near Lebanon, Tenn. Tornadoes ripped across Tennessee early Tuesday, shredding more than 140 buildings and burying people in piles of rubble and wrecked basements. At least 22 people were killed. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Update – March 4, 2020

ACS continues to monitor the situation in central Tennessee where 24 people have been confirmed dead. The Disaster Response leadership from the three affected conferences South Central, Kentucky-Tennessee, and Georgia-Cumberland have been attending TN VOAD meetings.

Public Safety and several help organizations have cleanup teams positioned and ready to be of service in Nashville. FEMA also had their Incident Management Assessment Teams (IMAT) headed to the area. The Red Cross has set up five shelters that are currently housing residents whose homes have been damaged.

Donated goods have already started to arrive in Nashville where ACS can be of assistance, if requested. South Central will be the lead conference, with support coming from Kentucky-Tennessee. Additionally, Georgia-Cumberland Conference is willing to lend their shower trailer, should the need present itself.

Multiple tornadoes touched down across central Tennessee early this morning, including one that caused severe damage in downtown Nashville. Twenty-two people are reported to be dead, including several children. Our South Central ACS Director, Lillie Buckingham, has been in communication with the TN VOAD. Our Kentucky-Tennessee ACS Director, Steve Rose, is reaching out to their team leads around the conference assessing the needs of these communities. We are also in contact with the Southern Union Conference ACS Director, Lynell LaMountain, and Georgia-Cumberland ACS leaders Gary Rustad and Rhonda Haight, to offer support as the needs are determined on the ground.

Please keep the affected families in your thoughts and prayers.

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ADRA COVID-19 Partnership

ACS Partners with ADRA on Coronavirus Response

ADRA has been engaged in hygiene and sanitation efforts in the aftermath of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that originated in the city of Wuhan, China. The virus which is spreading across the world at an accelerating rate may be at the brink of a global pandemic. The death toll is currently reported to be over 2000 worldwide.

We are partnering with ADRA to help deliver N95 masks for those in need in Hong Kong. The Adventist Hospital there has exhausted all their supply and thousands continue to get affected each day. NAD ACS Disaster Response Director, Derrick Lea, put out a request to our conferences within the Division, asking about the availability of masks in stock. Within 32 hours, the Texas and Carolina conferences had reached out saying that they had pallets of masks in their Warehouses and we could have access to them. This information was shared with ADRA and eventually an agreement was worked out with our friends at the Florida Adventist Hospital, who already had a shipment going to Hong Kong to be of assistance. Over 20,000 masks were picked up at these two conferences and shipped.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is working together with ACS DR, ADRA, Florida Hospital, and the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital to help a community being affected by this most recent crisis. “I am encouraged to be a part of this type of collaborative effort and I look forward to more of this in the future,” stated Lea.

Click here to read the latest article put out by ADRA on the coronavirus outbreak.

What you need to know about coronavirus disease
What to do if you are sick with coronavirus disease

Categories
Disaster Response Floods

Flooding in SE Washington and NE Oregon

Update – February 18, 2020

Here is a sampling of how ACS and other Adventist volunteer groups are getting involved in the Recovery Efforts. Especially hard hit were areas in Pendleton, Walla Walla, and outlying parts of Umatilla County.

  • Center for Humanitarian Engagement (CHE), led by David Lopez, gathered volunteers to work on two Relief projects this weekend. Eighty Walla Walla University students filled over 30,000 bags of sand. Click here for photos. They also have been helping to find volunteers to staff an assessment call center at the Emergency Management Department. Click here for latest newsletter by CHE on the flooding response.
  • Walla Walla Valley Academy with less time and students filled over 8,000 bags of sand.
  • Individual members sheltered evacuees.
  • SonBridge Center, in College Place, was on a one-hour alert for providing shelter for evacuees. They were willing in spite of the fact that the next morning was the yearly constituency meeting.
  • From Sabbath through Wednesday last week, ACS volunteers including lots of young people fixed meals for evacuees staying at the Red Cross shelter in Walla Walla.
  • A young private business owner from Coeur d’Alene, Albert Rorabeck, happily shared one full day and his big truck to drive the ACS DR trailer filled with flood buckets and supplies needed to man a donations warehouse to Walla Walla Fairgrounds first, and then on to Pendleton Convention Center. This activity was coordinated by Larry Marsh, who recently retired as Vice President for Education at Upper Columbia Conference.
  • With short notice a MARC (Multi-Agency Response Center) was planned for Thursday in Pendleton. Linda & Phil Ruud, Shawn Ruud, and Pastor Gibson have played key roles in the Pendleton area for planning the ACS response. Adventist Community Services provided a booth that included free flood buckets filled with what items needed in cleanup.
  • In addition, ACS was asked to provide an Emotional and Spiritual Care team coordinated by Dan Solis, Gary Gibson, Jeff Kinne, and Mike Lambert.
  • On Friday, a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) was set up in the Walla Walla area.
  • As of Friday afternoon with new furniture, refrigerators, clothing, and other items being trucked into Pendleton as gift to the survivors, final negotiations were in process for ACS to open a Donations Management Warehouse.

Last Spring, many Pathfinders under the direction of UCC Pathfinder Coordinator, Richie Brower, filled around 150 flood buckets. Almost a third of the buckets were delivered then to three different Native American communities in Eastern Washington that experienced flooding. The remaining flood buckets which were stored for almost a year are being loaded with supplies to assist with this disaster relief. Early Wednesday morning a call came from the Senior Red Cross Manager to UCC ACS/ACSDR Director Patty Marsh, “Do you by chance have flood buckets? We are in great need here for evacuees at the Walla Walla Fairgrounds?” With excitement Patty was able to tell the Manager that the flood buckets were a little over an hour out. “Through the combined efforts of many, these buckets were one more way Adventists can share with a hurting world. We care…,” stated Patty.

A special thank you goes to Patty Marsh; Doug Venn, UCC ACSDR Coordinator; David Lopez, WWU Center for Humanitarian Engagement; Norman Thiel, SonBridge Director; Larry Mays, NPUC DR Coordinator; and Byron Dulan, NPUC ACS Director, who have been working tirelessly to pinpoint how best ACS and volunteers can bring the greatest support to these individuals and communities.

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NEWS

Ray Elsberry Retires from ACS

The administrative team of the Gulf States Conference present Pr. Elsberry with a plaque.

Pr. Ray Elsberry, ACS and ACS DR Director of the Gulf States Conference, has retired from his responsibilities on December 31, 2019. He held these positions officially for over 14 years and unofficially for over 22 years in various capacities, as well. He also held the State VOAD Chair position until his retirement.

“Pastor Ray Elsberry has been an instrumental leader over the decades for ACS ministry,” stated Sung Kwon, Executive Director of North American Division ACS.

Pr. Elsberry was recognized for his work in ACS at the Gulf States Conference Executive Committee meeting in October 2019. He was presented with plaques from NAD ACS and the Gulf States Conference to honor his dedication to helping others.

It has truly been a privilege to have Pr. Elsberry serve in the ACS ministry. We want to express our sincere gratitude to him for his remarkable service. We also wish him the best of luck in his retirement years.