TERRE HAUTE —
Hundreds of Terre Haute-area families will have food in their homes this week thanks to Feed the Children and Covenant Cooperative Ministries.
Dozens of people stood in line outside the Covenant Ministries facility on South 101⁄2 Street on Wednesday awaiting food, bottled water and personal hygiene packages. Covenant volunteers using hand dollies wheeled the donated items to each person’s car.
“Thank God they’re here,” said Lori, a grandmother from West Terre Haute who said Wednesday was her first time receiving assistance from Covenant Cooperative Ministries.
Another first-time visitor to Covenant Cooperative Ministries for assistance was Bobbie Murphy, a young mother who was experiencing tough times recently because of a temporary job loss. Fortunately, she said, she is returning to her former employer this week.
A majority of the approximately 400 families receiving assistance Wednesday were at Covenant Cooperative Ministries for the first time, said Rose Aycock, volunteer executive director of CCM.
“We knew that the families here in this area really need the help,” Aycock said. “Food prices have gone up. That makes it tough to keep food on the shelves.”
About 15 volunteers helped distribute the semitrailer-load of food and hygiene materials to the hundreds of people seeking help. Families receiving the aid had been pre-screened to see that they qualified for assistance, Aycock said.
“We’re doing this to show them the love of the kingdom of God,” said Tracy W. Hamilton, a pastor with His Image Ministries and a long-time CCM volunteer. “If we can give them just a light of hope, maybe tomorrow will be the day they have been waiting for.”
Each family received a case of bottled water, a 25-pound box of food and a 10-pound box of personal care items. The boxes should last a family of four for up to one week, according to Feed the Children, an Oklahoma City-based not-for-profit organization.
About one in four children in Terre Haute is considered to be living in poverty, said Mark Opgrande, a spokesman for Feed the Children. His group, which has one of its six U.S. distribution centers in northern Indiana, generally provides help in communities where approximately 25 percent of children are living below the national poverty line, he said.
Many of the people receiving assistance from Feed the Children considered themselves middle class just a year or two ago, Opgrande noted. Many have suffered job losses or other difficulties that have forced them to seek assistance for the first time.
Last year, Feed the Children provided more than 104 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and around the world.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza This one will be fed: Bobbie Murphy holds her son, 3-month-old Michael DeBouse, as she waits in line for the Feed the Children food distribution Wednesday at Covenant Cooperative Ministry at 122 S. 101⁄2 St.
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Helping a family: Curt Hamilton wheels a Feed The Children pack out to the car of a recipient Wednesday at out the Covenant Cooperative Ministry warehouse. Tribune-Star/ Joseph C. Garza
Discussion
Food distribution a delivery of hope
Feed the Children teams with Covenant Cooperative Ministry to help 400 families
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