Church volunteers stepped up to deliver hundreds of food hampers.,,,
As Elim’s Rediscover Church in Exeter delivers hundreds of hampers across Devon this Christmas, they are aiming to offer hope and faith connections to families in need.
Amid a sea of Ikea bags, towers of pasta and piles of beans, a volunteer army is hard at work in Exeter.
The team is packing hundreds of hampers to bless families in need throughout Devon this Christmas.
The eight-year-old project began when Rediscover Church spotted an opportunity to help people in their area and extend their festive offering beyond their regular festive services.
“At Christmas we have an opportunity to bless people, share about Jesus and bring hope,” says operations coordinator Jason Ham.
“We often get together to share food at Christmas, so we thought how about we, as a church, could make hampers to support people who’ve had a difficult year and may be fearful or anxious during the festive season.”
In the first year, 50 hampers were given to people who were struggling financially, had been bereaved, were unemployed or had worked hard to support others and that the church were looking to bless and encourage.
But the project has exploded since then, so much so that 1,360 hampers were distributed last year. The increase came as needs grew in the community, and more requests for hampers were received.
“There was so much need after Covid,” says Jason. “And we know this year that people are experiencing fear and unrest as they figure out life in a cost of living crisis, so we expect that need to get bigger. People are struggling, and we want to help in a real way.
“A project of this scale has a big financial need. We believe in a God who provides, so we approach it full of faith and expectation. We share about the project with the church community and ask if people would be willing to contribute money or supplies. Then we work with other organisations and businesses to access donations or grants. Ikea supply all the bags, for example.
“A local car dealer also filled a whole car with food donations from customers. We’re really grateful and very thankful for all the support we get.”
As the mountains of pasta, rice, bread, mince pies, chocolates, sauces, beans, biscuits and soup come in, the team are then in need of a place to pack them.
“Rediscover Church doesn’t have a big building, and with lots of activity already in our weekly schedule we researched empty buildings across Exeter. Last year another church generously said we could use their space.”
SUPPORT
When deciding who to give the hampers to, the church already knows individuals, couples and families in need, but the vast majority of referrals come from local charities and organisations. The church works in partnership with these outside agencies to support people.
“Last year was our biggest outreach for the Hamper Project. We worked with eight primary and secondary schools, and had contacts from a domestic violence charity, CoLab, GP surgeries and Young Carers, social media housing providers, among other charities and organisations across the region. There is a homeless charity called Julian House which works with individuals who literally have nothing – each year we been honoured to help people in desperate need of food and struggling in a variety of ways.
“People are so appreciative of the hampers. But there are also a mixture of responses. Sometimes people are embarrassed – they never thought they’d be in a position to need a hamper – but they’re grateful we’re able to support them through the project. We’ve had some lovely, heart-warming comments which shows how appreciative and thankful people are.”
With Christian-themed Christmas cards, invitations to Rediscover’s services and Alpha’s White Christmas booklet included in the hampers, Jason and the team hope the deliveries help make faith connections too.
“The hampers are important, but even after the food has been eaten, the impact on people’s lives lasts beyond Christmas. When the New Year begins, we’ve also seen people re-engage with church or perhaps enter a church building for the first time.”
In some cases, they have been able to pray with people on their doorsteps as the deliveries have been made.
As the team ready themselves to deliver hundreds more hampers this month, they are praying for further opportunities to bless local families and build connections.
“This Christmas, it’s so important to share about Jesus, to help people and to have great conversations about church. We’re able to do this in a practical way through the Hamper Project,” says Jason.
“We’re so passionate about sharing the love of God and reaching out to people in need during the festive season.”
From Direction Magazine issue 243
