For nearly six years, the local Hansards Chapel United Methodist Church has been hosting a food giveaway to those in need within the community. The pantry takes place on the third Saturday each month at 6:00 pm at the church near the Knox/Union County line.

Pastor Jay Richardson has been with the church for nine years and continues to work towards growth in the church along with members. When he took his role in the church, there were only a few services held; Sunday school at 10:00 am, Sunday Worship at 11:00 am, and a fifth Sunday night singing. After his first year, his lay leader, Jim Smith, mentioned the idea of a Thursday evening prayer service. That is where the church began to grow and they began to ask the Lord what He would have the little church to do.

After praying for another year, a friend of Pastor Richardson, Joey, came to visit Hansards Chapel. The next day, Joey shared a dream he had the previous night. In the dream, he saw a radiantly lit little church in the night glowing with God’s glory with a full parking lot and people everywhere. He could see some preaching through the open doors of the church as well as folks giving away food.

From that dream, Jay shared the story with the Thursday night prayer service. After sharing the dream with the group, the church began to work together doing their part in building what was witnessed in the dream. They began to meet with representatives from Second Harvest and shortly after, established the pantry at their church.

The process is much like that of starting a small business and takes a large amount of work and organization. “The whole process was a wonderful time to experience Jesus,” says Pastor Richardson.

He says, “the way it goes is, we do what we can, and He does what we can’t.” Over the last six years, the church community has seen at least fifty people dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ and now serves more than one hundred families with food each month, and just like in the dream, there are people everywhere

As far as taking part in the program, everyone is welcome. There is a bit of paper work to fill out and be sure to bring your EBT (food stamp) card if you have one. Get there early!

Jay’s wife, Helda Richardson, is the lead in charge of the program. She orders and inventories the food as well as orchestrates the giveaway on Saturday night. There are needs for the program, as there are with most. The program has grown a lot and the church pays for most of the expenses, so they could use some donations at times.

A goal is to increase the number of items being distributed, so monetary donations would be greatly appreciated in helping make this happen. The number of families benefiting is constantly increasing, as is the cost of service.

If you would like to make donations, write checks to Hansards Chapel UMC with food pantry in the memo.