{"id":318,"date":"2009-12-18T22:13:47","date_gmt":"2009-12-18T22:13:47","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-01-30T15:54:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T20:54:12","slug":"a-tale-of-two-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2009\/12\/18\/a-tale-of-two-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"A tale of two churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FoodPantry\"<\/a> <\/span> Imagine two churches across the street from each other. Both realize that many people in their congregations and community are struggling with economic problems to a degree that they sometimes have trouble feeding their families. Both churches decide to set up food pantries to help. But they decide to run those pantries in different ways.<\/p>\n

Church X<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Asks its members to bring non-perishable food to the church\u2019s food pantry.
\n\u2022 Members purchase food at the grocery store for the pantry, spending a total of $5,000 over the course of a year.
\n\u2022 Neither the church nor its members receive any tax break for the food gifts.
\n\u2022 $5,000 worth of store-purchased food totals about 3,500 pounds.
\n\u2022 Church members lovingly assemble 70 50-pound standardized boxes of food.
\n\u2022 They offer the standardized food boxes to 70 hungry families.
\n\u2022 Because the families\u2019 dietary needs, preferences, and other factors are not considered, as much as half of the food goes to waste.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: At a cost of $5,000, Church X provides hungry families with 1,750 pounds to 3,500 pounds of food they can use.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Church Y<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Asks its members to give funds to the church\u2019s food pantry account at the Food Bank.
\n\u2022 Church members give $5,000 over the course of a year.
\n\u2022 Church members\u2019 gifts qualify for a 50% Michigan tax credit and up to a 25% Federal tax deduction, so the after-tax cost to the members is as little as $1,250.
\n\u2022 $5,000 in donations let the church obtain approximately 35,700 pounds of food from the Food Bank.
\n\u2022 Church members lovingly stock the shelves of their food pantry.
\n\u2022 They invite 714 families to come select 50 pounds each of food that fits their families\u2019 needs.
\n\u2022 Because the families choose what they can use, vitually none of the food goes to waste.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: At a cost of as little as $1,250, Church Y provides hungry families with 35,700 pounds of food they can use.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both congregations mean well, but the subtle differences in how they mobilize and dispense food aid make a huge difference in how much help they are able to provide, and how much it costs to provide it. When times are hard and needs are great, doesn\u2019t it make sense to review options and make educated choices in these matters?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reprinted from Full Plate Press<\/a><\/em>, Spring 2009 edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One congregation spends 25% less for as much as 20 times more food. Is that possible? Yup.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hunger-action-congregations"],"yoast_head":"\nA tale of two churches - Food and Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2009\/12\/18\/a-tale-of-two-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A tale of two churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One congregation spends 25% less for as much as 20 times more food. Is that possible? 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