Today there are fewer hungry people in our country due to local American Baptist churches serving as the hands and feet of Christ with financial help from the Matthew 25 Grant.

First Baptist Church of Clinton, Iowa, has had a brown bag ministry, in which lunches are packed and offered free to any member of the community who is hungry.  They also purchase infant formula for WIC families who have been struggling.  School supplies are provided to teachers in the local elementary school to be distributed to children who are unable to purchase what they need.

First Baptist Church in Bloomfield, Indiana, received a Matthew 25 Grant to help them purchase a commercial freezer for their ongoing food pantry.  The gift arrived just in time to allow for the additional volume caused by summertime needs, when children are no longer receiving free/reduced meals at school.  The freezer allows the church to accept and store additional meats and frozen items for distribution.  This also eases the burden on the many volunteers who help with the food pantry, as items can be easily accessed and inventory can be monitored more easily.  This help is especially appreciated in the light of recent cutbacks on the part of the area’s largest employer.

Central Baptist Church of Woodbury, New Jersey, provides lunches for their neighbors down on their luck through the Camden Homeless Mission.  Each week they deliver 100 nutritious bag lunches to hungry people.  The volunteers who pack and deliver the lunches are blessed by the hugs and words of thanks they receive from the recipients.

The Matthew 25 Grant, sponsored by ABCUSA, is funded by a generous donor whose goal is to help meet the needs of “housing, feeding, education and health with regard to the less fortunate.”  Awards for the Matthew 25 grant are made twice a year, in April and October, with application deadlines of March 1 and September 1.  To view the guidelines and download the application form, click here.