It’s a miracle!
Prissy Cornwell and I were packing chicken as we were distributing food on a recent Tuesday. We were giving every client a large package of chicken. It was the third Tuesday of the month and our supply of chicken was being depleted.
While we were talking, I said, “I wish Tyson would call and give us some more chicken.” As I said the word “chicken” my phone started ringing. As I reached to answer it, Prissy said, “It’s Tyson calling.” When I answered it, a lady said, “I drive for Tyson and I have a pallet of chicken and I was wondering if you would want it.” I told her, “Yes.” She said she was in Vienna and it would be at least an hour before she could be there. I thanked her and gave her the address. When she arrived, while we waited for the forklift to arrive (Farmers Seed and Feed graciously loans us their forklift and a driver when we need it), I told her about the conversation that Prissy and I had. The driver said that she had delivered the chicken to a business in Florida but they had declined it because several of the boxes were broken open. Then she said she had tried to give the chicken to an organization in Orlando, Florida, but they told her their trucks were tied up and they did not have time to work with it. She then took the chicken to Tyson in Vienna but they did not want it and suggested that she call Harvest of Hope Food Pantry. She said, “This chicken apparently was supposed to be yours from the very beginning.”
I was sharing this experience with one of the original board members. When I finished the story, he said, “This food pantry is a miracle. We opened our doors with a big debt and a big building and I wondered what we would do with all that space and how we would get the money to pay off the debt. And look at Harvest of Hope Food Pantry now! Harvest of Hope Food Panty is truly a miracle.” It is impossible to explain what has happened without calling it a miracle. God has been faithful and has met our needs and we are truly thankful for those who have been there for us.
We are thankful to Tyson Foods who has remembered us in direct gifts and through people they have pointed our way. We are thankful for Food Lion who blesses us every day and this enables us to be more of a blessing for our clients. We are thankful for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry who blesses us every month as they remove pallets of food from the current month and replace them with pallets of food for distribution for the next month. We have also been blessed this last semester by the graduating nurses from Georgia Southwestern State University. They have worked very hard. They have sorted all of the donated food that had accumulated as well as straightening up the warehouse area. That area is straighter now that it has been since we added on to the building.
We thank the volunteer group from Wells Fargo Bank that came to work in April. We appreciate all those who volunteer on a regular basis because that enables us to operate each week. We are blessed by some individuals who work each Monday and Tuesday, those who help pack meat, and the individuals who work only once a month. We are dependent on each one.
As I mentioned earlier, we appreciate Frank Joiner at Farmers Seed and Feed who loans us their forklift and driver to unload pallets from large trucks that do not have lifts on them. Please do not forget them if you can use anything that they sell.
Food Lion keeps us supplied with meats, breads, deli items and produce. These items are added daily to our supply of food items that are distributed weekly. Please think of Food Lion when you shop. Stop by the front desk and let the manager or one of the assistant managers let them know why you shop there.
We are thankful for all of those individuals, churches, organizations, school groups, and others who donate food items. Recently we received a donation of food items from a birthday party where people brought canned goods instead of presents. “The children already have more toys that they can play with.” We are grateful to everyone who contributes to this ongoing ministry. Thank you.
We need everyone’s continuing support because our ministry is a continuing one. We are your hands in fulfilling the ministry of Jesus who said that when we feed the hungry, we are doing it unto Him.
It is a miracle!
God bless you.
Sonny Pinckard
Executive director
Harvest of Hope Food Pantry
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