Fairmont United Methodist Church • Raleigh NC

a mission-oriented community

Food Needs-Pantries and Drives

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SUNDAY FOOD DRIVE: Popularly called “Bring Your Cans to Church,” Fairmont receives an offering of food for the pantry at Urban Ministries of Wake County any Sunday. Bring your shelf-stable, non-perishable food items and place in the barrel in the narthex. We have recently begun collecting fresh fruit and vegetables one Sunday a month (usually the first Sunday). Watch the announcements for collection days.

The need is ongoing! Did you know…?

  • 45,000 pounds of food are needed each month.
  • 11,000 children annually benefit from a week’s worth of groceries.
  • As many as 50 families every weekday receive support from the pantry.

Over 3500 volunteers help this ministry happen, and Fairmont is a proud partner.

Note: Originally one of our women’s circles organized the food collection as a Fifth Sunday special collection. As our awareness grew about the great need the “Fifth Sunday” became every last Sunday, then first Sundays. Now, we highlight the overwhelming need of area food pantries and non-perishable food collection is encouraged at any time.

PARTNERING WITH WILSON TEMPLE UMC

Volunteers are needed of all ages and abilities to help at Wilson Temple Food Pantry on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. Jobs include sorting and packaging food into boxes, and/or lifting and delivering food boxes (~25lbs) to individual cars. Volunteers can sign up for a shift to help between 10:30am until 12:30pm any 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month. While food boxes are being distributed, a group of individuals prepare food boxes in advance so that the food pantry can operate efficiently.

Clement Quintyne, the Wilson Temple food pantry coordinator notes, “On the second Saturday of each month, we are currently providing food to about 35 regular families. This includes 29 families whose food is picked up by two volunteers who take the food boxes to the families. It is estimated that the 35 represent 175 individuals including children. On the fourth Saturday, food is provided to about 24 families. Fourteen of these families have their food delivered by one of the volunteers mentioned above, and we deliver food to four families in the Mayview community. We estimate the 24 families to represent 96 individuals including children. In total, on a monthly basis we serve about 59 families, but we anticipate this number to grow since only a year ago we were only serving about 35 families. Also, the numbers above do not include an estimated increase of 10 additional families who are referred to Wilson Temple by Fiesta Cristiana, starting on May 14.”

An additional large food distribution is planned for the summer for the 4th Saturdays of June, July, and August; offering food boxes, meat, and resource information in Spanish to 75 Latino families in need from the surrounding Raleigh area. Fiesta Cristiana and Fairmont UMC churches are partnering with Wilson Temple to provide love and support for these additional events. Fiesta Cristiana’s Family Resource Center handles registration and notification of families receiving assistance. Plans are being made to help these three large food distribution events also be a time of community building with coinciding opportunities for the volunteers from the three churches to fellowship afterwards. These three events will take place from 9am to 1pm on the given Saturdays. Link here to Sign Up.

LITTLE FREE FOOD PANTRY

Free Food Pantry Needs Items! The current state of our world has led to a lot of food insecurity. Please remember to pick up extra non-perishable items for the food pantry.

If you haven't seen it yet, it is a box along the lines of the “little free library” boxes. By the sidewalk near Pastor Christina’s parking space on Horne Street is a small box on a post with glass doors doors and a roof. Inside are staple items, cans of food, dried beans, some ready to eat foods, and some personal size toiletries, as well.

Many thanks to everyone who is contributing to the outside pantry box. We even have neighborhood folks helping. Also, there are many boxes of food in the small kitchen (off of the Youth Room in the basement), that are for the Little Food Pantry.  If you see that the LFP needs to be filled, please grab an armload on your way out!  Thank you!