Church members delivering gifts to Christmas families were able to celebrate the season with children who are regularly receiving nutritious meals from St. Philip’s Kid’s Against Hunger satellite. In 2011, St. Philip delivered an average of 4,000 meals monthly to Kid’s Meals.

 

Bethel Ministry, which provides 500 food boxes weekly to vulnerable families in Missouri City, brought a very productive group of volunteers to St. Philip to help pack the food they distribute. Bethel then shared their rice casserole food packages with an orphanage they support on mission trips to Piedras Niegras.

 

Food from Kid’s Against Hunger has enhanced our participation with St. Philip’s mission benevolence partners. Christian Community Service Center’s Gethsemane Kitchen has been able to supplement its rice purchases with our food packages. SEARCH uses our rice casseroles in the meals it prepares for the homeless and distributes packages from its food pantry.

 

In December, Adventures in Mission, a group active in Mexico, will hand out 7,128 meals in a poor Colonia in Matamoras. In 2011 St. Philip sent almost five pallets, over two and a half tons, of Kid’s Against Hunger packages to Mexico. Mexico has been one of the most challenging countries to serve for agencies providing food aid.

 

St. Philip’s satellite easily surpassed its goal of packing 100,000 meals this year by more than 30,000 meals. Five hundred and eighty-five volunteers participated in our packing events. Many of these helpers were visitors to our church. Volunteers included students from YES Southwest Charter School, First Presbyterian School, and Rice University. Youth groups from Missouri City Methodist Church, Memorial Drive Presbyterian, and St. Luke’s Methodist visited our satellite this summer. St. Philip youth, Wednesday Night Live packers, and members working after Sunday services provided valuable support. Thanks to a very dedicated team who effectively conducted nineteen packing sessions this year, St. Philip has provided a valuable outreach to the Houston area.

 

The generosity of St. Philip members, many individual gifts, and grants from New Covenant Presbytery and the Brazosport Rotary Club have produced the $12,000 in operational costs needed this year. We are looking forward to new goals in 2012. Everyone is invited to become part of the Kids Against Hunger Mission effort.