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Bread For Life |
Serving The Needy In Our Community |
Story by Dave Zarro; Photos by Linda Zarro |
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Hunger is not something most of us in the middle of America would understand. And it is not something any of us would wish on our neighbors. But sometimes, circumstances prevent a family from meeting its basic needs—including a meal that most of us take for granted.
It’s a fact that there are families in Lincoln County that are unable at times to provide basic meals for their own children. For that reason, the Ministerial Alliance in Troy established Bread For Life, a food pantry available for families in need.
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Bread For Life has strict rules to help prevent abuse of its excellent service. A family can only receive assistance once every 30 days, and only for a period of six months. The goal of the organization is to help a family while it is recovering from setbacks such as loss of a job, unexpected medical expenses and other situations that stretch families’ finances beyond what they are able to bear.
A young lady waited to be interviewed, which is always the first step in the process of receiving provisions at Bread For Life. Her husband lost his job, and their family of five was forced to move in with her mother and brother. The husband is looking for work so that their family can be reestablished on its own, but while he is looking, this is a family in need.
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Ilah Marie was greeting the individuals as they arrived, helping them to fill out the necessary forms and get the information necessary to provide help. During our morning visit, there were as few as one family, and as many as six, waiting to be served.
Jim Stubbs has been a volunteer since January 2005. He enjoys this time each week because it is something he can offer back to the community. He and Betty Van Breemen, a volunteer since September 2005, along with another worker, were busy preparing packages of food supplies. Betty works at the daycare center of First Baptist Church of Troy when she is not volunteering her time at Bread For Life. Her reason for volunteering? Without hesitation her reply was, “To give glory to God because He has blessed me so much.” |
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Jim Stubbs |
Betty Van Breemen |
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Marilyn Schlueter was the hardest person to catch up with. As the director of Bread For Life, her energy was a great asset. In between interviews with new families, and helping to prepare food packages, Marilyn explained how Bread For Life operates.
The center is open each Wednesday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Donations of food items can be brought to Bread For Life during those hours. Marilyn is usually there as early as 8:00, preparing for the day, so it is also possible to drop off donations between 8 and 10. Local schools, Boy Scout troops, and other groups have food drives to help collect food items. Monetary donations are also needed to help pay for rent, utilities and to aid in purchasing food items that the center is lacking.
The Grateful Harvest Program helps to provide meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. This year, meals were provided for 144 families at Thanksgiving and another 40 families at Christmas.
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| If you would like to help, but are not sure what items are best to bring, they always have a need for peanut butter, jelly, tea bags, drink mixes (such as Kool-Aid), and box dinners. Some local merchants also donate surplus food items. These include St. Louis Bread Company in Wentzville, Aldi and Sugar Grove Produce in Troy.
Please consider what you can do to help Bread For Life. It is truly an organization that is expecting nothing in return, but is reaching out to help those in need in our community.
Bread For Life
102 S. Lincoln Drive (Next to Bella Vita Salon)
(636) 528-3646
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