Scene 6 – The Food Pantry

The next stop is the Lakeview Food Pantry. Here, staff and volunteers work tirelessly to put Matthew 25:35 into action: For I was hungry, and you gave me food.

This year, resources at the food pantry have been stretched to the limit. Since the pandemic began, more than 108,000 of our neighbors have been served at the food pantry, with more than 36,000 first-time recipients. Hunger knows no boundaries, so here we find the young and the old, the employed and the unemployed. We hear a multitude of languages and we see an incredible cross-section of our neighbors.

The Three Kings, who were strangers on their journey, encounter a place where strangers care for each other and recognize their inherent human dignity. All on this journey seek a basic human right: the right to have adequate food to eat.

God bless the staff and volunteers at our local food pantries, and in this season of hope, may God give special blessings to the hungry. Amen.