Families Coming Together to Eat | Iowa United Methodist Foundation
January 28, 2020
The Neighborhood Meal and Enrichment Program received a Carma Mohler Grant in 2018 and utilized those funds during the summer of 2019. Free meals were provided to children, families, and elderly in the Wellington Heights, Mound View, and Oak Hill neighborhoods. According to Program Director, Joanna Kriz, this program puts an emphasis on families coming together to eat and this year was successful as they saw many adults come with their children. They also recognized a positive bond forming between the program and the families within the neighborhoods.
The meals are provided at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, but the program is sponsored by six community churches altogether. The churches that make up this program are First Presbyterian, First Lutheran, Christ Episcopal, Grace Episcopal, Westminster Presbyterian, and St. Paul’s UMC.
This year, they had 251 volunteers and served a total of 4,701 meals in the 11-week time period. On top of that, 97 second servings of fruits and vegetables were also given out. There is not a continuous source of funding for this program and it is an on-going process for them each year to find the funds so the Foundation is glad we were able to provide a grant to them. Learn more about the Neighborhood Meal and Enrichment Program at St. Paul’s UMC.
If you would like to set up a gift to give to food ministries so that programs like this can continue on into the future, or to another kind of ministry, contact us at 515-974-8927 or info@iumf.org.