The holiday season is here, and with grocery costs continuing to rise, Michigan United Methodists are standing in the gap with neighbors in need.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
In ministry, providing nourishment is a part of our calling as followers of Jesus. When Jesus asks Peter to feed his sheep in John 21, there’s a spiritual dimension to this calling, but it goes much deeper, down to where the spirit meets the bone. The physical body is just as important as the spirit, for we’re whole beings created by God and in need of loving care.
As the holiday season is upon us, with Thanksgiving this week and Christmas around the corner, how are United Methodists in Michigan tending to the physical needs of people in their communities, especially as this nation continues to face rising food costs and unemployment?
The faith community of Eaton Rapids: First UMC in Eaton County, southwest of Lansing, has found a ministry niche by serving as a community center for the area and a trusted partner in feeding those facing food insecurity in this rural community.
A woman recently entered the church lobby, appearing frantic and trying to find someone who could help her. Rev. Melany Chalker met the woman as she was returning from an off-site meeting and recounts the conversation.
“The woman asked me if I worked here at the church,” says Pastor Melany, “and I responded that I am the lead pastor. Her body seemed to melt as she began weeping. She shared that she had been sick in bed the past two days and missed the deadline for the Holiday Food & Gift Baskets application. She wondered if there were any way we would still take the application. I offered her a big smile and a hug and assured her it was no problem at all.”
“She then began blessing me,” Pastor Melany remembers further, “as if I was the one to thank. I told her I would be praying for her, for healing, and she thanked me again. We hugged once more before she went back out the door, taller than when she arrived.”
Each year, Eaton Rapids: First UMC partners with the local Community Christian Action Group, giving the church’s gymnasium for a week as they organize and assemble Holiday Food & Gift Baskets for individuals and families in need during the holidays. The congregation also collects the majority of the items needed for distribution, filling 100 grocery bags with food and purchasing 125 gift cards loaded with $35 each.
This is just one of several feeding ministries the congregation engages in throughout the year, including a monthly, county-wide mobile food distribution (the only one in Eaton County) in collaboration with the Greater Lansing Food Bank, and a brand-new partnership with Eaton Community Health in offering a location for them to install two sets of food lockers and a kiosk. Eaton Community Health keeps the lockers filled with nonperishable items.
To fill the refrigerated lockers with perishable food, Eaton Rapids: First UMC applied for and received a $2,000 grant from UMCOR’s Feeding Our Neighbors food ministry grant program. They are only the second location in Michigan to have these state-of-the-art food lockers.
Pastor Melany explains, “These lockers will not only be a stopgap for the time being, but will continue to provide agencies, pastors of area churches, school personnel, and the local pantry with a code to give out to an individual or family to access food, as the needs arise.”
The UMCOR grant will support the purchase of food to fill the lockers for children, families, and elders in the area. Because they are refrigerated, they can add meat, dairy, and other essentials to the shelf-stable items Eaton Community Health buys from the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
Eaton Rapids: First UMC has become a hub of activity in their community, housing the highest-rated childcare center in the area with the lowest tuition, sharing their building with everything from the Community Christian Action Group to driver’s training courses to blood drives and more, and fostering 47 small groups that connect, grow, and serve throughout the community.
It’s been a mutual, Spirit-led relationship that has grown over the years. “Our congregation and community take great pride in the way we care for one another in the Eaton Rapids area,” says Pastor Melany. “Applications are minimal, flexibility is apparent, and grace runs rampant.” And she believes this new food locker ministry is just another way her congregation is enjoying serving others in the name of Christ and expanding their impact during this difficult time for many.
Throughout the state, local United Methodist churches and affiliated ministries are hosting other forms of food distribution, free holiday meals, and on-site food pantries. Flint: Bethel UMC offered its sixth food giveaway with drive-through distribution on November 22. Williamston UMC is providing a free community Thanksgiving meal. And three churches in the Northern Skies District are currently engaged in a friendly food drive competition.
At Lake Ann UMC in rural Benzie County, their food pantry is staffed by about 20 volunteers and serves an average of 50 to 70 households each week. Clients come from Benzie, Leelanau, and Grand Traverse counties.
Aaron McBride, Lake Ann UMC’s administrative assistant, notes that the impact of these numbers, which their volunteers see firsthand, cannot be understated: “These are people who are without the most basic human need — food. Quite often, they are experiencing trauma in other areas of their life as well. We often meet people who are literally on empty in so many ways, and visiting our pantry means they will have food in their stomach that night, and in their home for the week.”
A story of impact came up for Susan Wagner, the coordinator of Lake Ann UMC’s food pantry. She tells about a veteran who recently visited the church’s food pantry and was so thankful to receive meat and other supplies.
“Since his wife’s passing,” Susan recalls, “the reduction in Social Security benefits has made it harder to support himself. He was able to make a nice meal — his wife’s favorite — when his daughters visited. He was also advised to reach out to a veteran’s organization for more assistance.”
In the East Winds District, two congregations are aiding community members in need through their own food pantries.
Over the years, the food insecurity needs at Fenton UMC’s food pantry have increased, so they now partner with Fenton Area Resource and Referral (FARR). FARR is a screening agency that is also very active in the community, so they bring in local high school students to help with sorting canned goods at the pantry. With FARR, Fenton UMC’s food pantry also runs the Stuff the Bus campaign to collect canned goods during football season to fill Thanksgiving food boxes.
Diane Panaretos, coordinator of Fenton UMC’s food pantry, credits the generosity of the congregation’s members for the pantry’s growth and for meeting neighbors’ needs.
“We have had a recent influx of people coming for food, primarily due to the SNAP program being abruptly halted, although it has now been reinstated,” notes Diane. “We have asked our congregants to bring in items we constantly purchase on a regular basis, so they have really stepped up to the plate! We have compiled quite an inventory. Our current numbers show we are feeding approximately 120 people, so we really needed the help from our church people.”
Diane also explains how other groups have contributed to the feeding ministry: “Our United Women in Faith group supplies us with asked-for items, and our men’s group supplies pasties they make. Members of our congregation also contribute venison during the hunting season. We are fortunate to have a very giving congregation that we never take for granted!”
The food pantry housed at Algonac: Trinity UMC in St. Clair County serves Algonac, Clay Township, and Ira Township. The pantry started as a closet and has grown over 25 years. In 2024, they served 2,056 people with 29,927 pounds of food, and for the first three quarters of 2025, they served 1,845 individuals with 23,275 pounds of food.
In addition to providing free groceries, the food pantry seeks to be a resource for the unemployed, those struggling financially, and those who need special assistance.
Marion Avers, who is in her 90s and coordinates the pantry, explains further: “We have information on the WIC program for mothers with young children. We refer people to the Family Independence Agency, United Way, the Salvation Army, and others for help with utilities, propane, personal problems, etc. We refer people needing medical help to the People’s Clinic for Better Health in Port Huron, a clinic for people without health insurance. We have the phone numbers for Ask-a-Lawyer for those seeking legal assistance.”
Not every local church has the resources to manage an on-site food pantry or other large food distributions. And some do and remain sustainable for a while, but later find it challenging to continue, as Milwood UMC in Kalamazoo recently discovered and had to close its food pantry after eight years.
Even if your church doesn’t have a feeding ministry, there are ways you can rally around your neighbors at this time of the year. Look for other local churches and nonprofit ministries that provide this kind of service to the community, and partner with them.
Also, seek out EngageMI partners that are close by, many with longstanding United Methodist connections, where you can volunteer or donate money and goods. Explore the list of EngageMI ministry partners here in Michigan, and don’t forget about our eight campus ministries. Our young adults are feeling the crunch, too, and could use some assistance.
The Baldwin Center in Pontiac began as an outreach program of Baldwin Avenue UMC (now closed) and became a standalone nonprofit in 2006. Their Family Kitchen provides over 1,000 meals a week to individuals and families in Pontiac and the surrounding areas.
Elizabeth Longley, The Baldwin Center’s Strategic Development Officer, says that they’ve seen an increase in need over the past year, primarily due to higher food costs. More recently, they’ve seen a rise in need based on referrals from other nonprofit agencies that are struggling. Also, the recent loss of federal funding has negatively impacted the center’s ability to fulfill its mission.
“The federal emergency food money would have helped support over 2,000 meals,” notes Longley. “We are doing our best to stretch our dollars, but financial donations have decreased over the last several years, and we are struggling to continue our services. The Baldwin Center recognizes that recent federal food cuts, layoffs, and economic uncertainty will drive up the need for food in the community. This is a desperate time for so many Michigan families.”
But Longley is grateful for the impact the center is making on lives in Pontiac and tells about a vital feeding ministry: “We provide 30 to 40 bagged lunches twice a month to Oakland University’s medical school’s Street Medicine Oakland program. Medical students distribute these lunches to those in need while providing much-needed medical services.”
Explore ways you can support The Baldwin Center, an EngageMI ministry partner in Pontiac.
On the other side of the state, in Grand Rapids, North End Community Ministry (NECM) serves the Creston and Belknap neighborhoods on the northeast side of the city through its location in the former Plainfield UMC building.
NECM serves over 700 people a month with food through its main Client Choice Food Pantry and its Senior Citizen Food Pantry, located in the Leonard Terrace housing complex for low-income elderly. They also do holiday food baskets at Christmas and a hot meal program, served restaurant-style, for anyone in need at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church.
According to Executive Director Laura Castle, NECM has “seen at least a 10-20% increase in food demand. Most of this is due to the government shutdown. Though this has ended, it may take several months for things to return to normal, as clients are still awaiting the full reinstatement of their SNAP benefits. The service disruption has caused backlogs with clients receiving their benefits. We have also experienced greater demand, due to high prices at the grocery store.”
Castle says that although NECM’s budget has been tight, they have been able to meet the needs of their clients. “I am amazed,” she says, “how so many local people and a lot of our supporting churches here in Grand Rapids, such as Aldersgate UMC and Northlawn UMC, pitched in to provide food and volunteers in a time of crisis!”
She concludes with a story of impact: “A lady came in recently and said with appreciation and a smile how much our ministry had been there for her family in a dire time of need, especially with greater inflation in recent years, high costs at the grocery store, and feeling squeezed from all the pressure and duress of trying to meet all of her financial demands with rent, utilities, auto expenses, and child care. She was entirely grateful that we had helped to fill in the gaps for her and her family.”
Last Updated on December 2, 2025