GOOD NEWS: Church food pantry continues to fight local hunger amid outbreak

Pictured above at the Glenloch Church Food pantry last week are (L-R): Pastor Neil Awbrey, Durell Langley (Director), Becky Gardner, Angela Finch, Nate Handley, Olivia Handley, Crystal Rood, Elaine Marshall, Secretary Becky Carlisle, and Becky Gaskamp. (Photo: Glenloch Baptist Church)

(Franklin, GA) — A local church program is continuing to make sure everyone has a chance to eat amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Glenloch Baptist Church Community Outreach Program continues to offer a growing number of citizens in need a food pantry every Tuesday morning at the church.

The director of the program, Durell Langley, says his team of volunteers has seen an uptick in numbers over the last few weeks as the COVID-19 situation has left many without jobs and facing difficult challenges.

The drive-thru pantry is open every Tuesday from 9:00 AM until Noon and is located behind the church at 2807 Glenloch Road in northern Heard County.

The pantry serves all Heard County residents providing primarily non-perishable food items.

The outreach program is not new to the church and has been in existence since being started by Jimmy and Patsy Horn in 2011.

Glenloch Pastor Neil Awbrey says the program that includes about 12-16 volunteers is an important part of the church ministry for multiple reasons.

“The food pantry has been an invaluable aspect of our church life – it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ in a tangible and helpful way to our community and the fellowship and joy of those who serve together in the pantry grows stronger and stronger the more we serve,” says Pastor Awbrey.

“Especially in the season of COVID-19 restrictions we are discovering that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ I am so grateful for our volunteers and how this ministry has grown and impacted so many families.”

Langley has been in charge of the program for several months and says a lot more work is involved than people might think.

The food pantry has to keep very accurate records and is subject to numerous regulations put forth by the Department of Agriculture.

The pantry currently services between 600-700 people each month including a broad variety of age groups with a largest percentage of the food being targeted to children and the elderly.

The program does accept donations of non-perishable food items as well as monetary donations.

“We estimate that we have purchased over 400,000 pounds of food since the inception of our pantry in 2011 not including the food that has been donated directly,” says Langley.

“We get our food from several different sources each week just depending on where we can find the best deals on items we can use.”

The group purchased and provided about 89,000 pounds of food to the Heard County community in 2019 and around 65,000 pounds in 2018.

For information on the donation process or for help with food you may contact Durell Langley directly at 678-575-6945 or by emailing him at rdurell63@gmail.com. You may also call Glenloch Baptist directly at 770-854-5346.

If you are a Heard County resident and struggling to make ends meet and need to put food on the table, Glenloch Community Outreach invites you to reach out or stop by their pantry.

First time clients at the pantry are required to provide a valid drivers license plus one more proof of address.