Wanda English Burnett - Editor
If youre looking for a way
to stretch your food dollars, this might be a solution to consider
- placing an order with Angel Food Ministries, which is now
being offered in Ripley County.
People in our church are really excited about this project,
noted Paula Goodpaster, who with her husband, Frank, head the
congregation at The Upper Room Fellowship, located on State
Road 48 near Osgood. They have partnered with the Community
Church of Greensburg and Angel Food Ministries to give people
in this area the opportunity to purchase quality food at affordable
prices.
The project, while new to the area, has been in operation for
11 years. Angel Food Ministries is headquartered out of Monroe,
Georgia and offers the food distribution in 32 states.
Heres how it works. You can place an order for food today,
January 25, from 1-4 p.m. at the Ripley County Fairground Trustees
Food Store, and from 4-7 p.m. Friday, January 26. This will
be for the February 10 distribution, which can be picked up
from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the same location. Orders
can also be placed by mail by sending your request and payment
to: The Upper Room Fellowship, 833 E. State Road 48, Osgood,
IN 47037. However, it does have to reach that facility by the
7:00 p.m. deadline on Friday, January 26.
For $25.00, you receive approximately $42-$78 worth of food.
There is a set menu for each month with lots of meat
included, according to Goodpaster. She noted that the food is
good quality and well worth the money. A unit of
food, which sells for $25.00, is designed to feed a family of
four for one week or a single person for one month, according
to information passed out to potential buyers.
The February menu includes: breaded chicken tenders, St. Louis
Style ribs, individually quick frozen chicken thighs, ground
beef, breaded chicken breast filets, beef burritos, smoked sausage,
taco shells, pinto beans, rice, corn muffin mix, shoestring
french fries, sugar snap pears, vegetable, breakfast cereal,
eggs, and a pie. With the purchase of a regular unit (above
mentioned food), you can then purchase specials. The February
specials include steaks, chicken, and meat combo units for $18.00
each and gourmet coffee.
An information meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, January
30 at 5:00 p.m. at the Tyson Library in Versailles. Orders will
not be taken at that time, but questions about the program will
be answered and information dispersed about how the program
works. Everyone is invited to learn more about Angel Food Ministries
and how they can save on their grocery bill. There is no application
process or qualifications. Anyone can order the food. Everyone
qualifies!
Volunteers are needed to help make the ministry a success. Goodpaster
noted that various churches have already come together to help
out. It really means a lot to have the churches in the
community working together, Goodpaster noted, adding,
together - we can make a difference.
Anyone interested in volunteering either to unload a truck,
unpack food, carry food boxes for those picking up food, check
off the list of those picking up food, set up tables or distribute
food items, should contact the Goodpasters at 852-2223.
Goodpaster continued by saying that she has been working with
volunteers from the Community Church at Greensburg where they
now process 1400 orders a month. Weve been learning
from them how the system works, she noted. While the Greensburg
location is set up to take food stamps, Ripley Countys
facility isnt at that point yet. But, we can help
people get the food with food stamps by referring them to Greensburg,
noted Goodpaster.
Right now the Ripley County group is taking their third order
and had 80 orders last month. They want everyone to know about
the savings.
The new ministry taken on by the Goodpasters follows the teaching
of their church to help others. They are excited
about the opportunity to share the bounty and hope people will
come to the informational meeting to learn more about the project..