Columbia Tribune: Charitable groups find providence after storm

Columbia Tribune: Charitable groups find providence after storm

"About a month before Christmas, it didn’t look good for the Central Missouri Food Bank. The 40,000-square-foot Vandiver Drive food storage area was less than one-fourth full, donations weren’t coming in and the agency was about $250,000 in debt.

Then people learned about its plight.

"I just call it a miracle," said Peggy Kirkpatrick, the food bank’s executive director. "Everything just started pouring in, literally."

The agency distributed more than 20.5 million pounds of food in 2006 to the 33 counties it serves - a 14 percent increase over 2005. The agency helped feed more than 80,000 people per month - a 7 percent increase over 2005. The warehouse is full, and the bills are paid. ..."

In the two months before Christmas 80 food drives were held, and while this article is not explicit about funding, it seems that enough money also came in to meet expenses.

The pastor at my church often says that the Church's reserve account is in the members' wallets. When there is a need, people come through on a regular basis to help meet those needs.

It is nice to see that the observations from our local congregation can be extended to the other congregations in mid-Missouri, as well as other organizations and individuals that find themselves called to help alleviate hunger in our community.

Still, it would be nice if organizations such as the Central Missouri Food Bank did not have to enter crisis mode to cause the release of the wallet reserve accounts...