Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church uses a variety of approaches to address food insecurity
by Darla Carter | Presbyterian News Service
Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati is a Hunger Action Congregation. (Photo courtesy of Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church)
LOUISVILLE — Mary Lou Harris has been working in the garden at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church (MWPC) since 1996, so she knows a thing or two about produce.
She and a small garden crew produce a bounty of green beans, summer and winter squash, greens, onions, turnips, beets, a few surprises like cantaloupe, and of course, tomatoes.
“Mary Lou’s a tomato guru,” said Laura Hovland, a ruling elder and fellow gardener at the east Cincinnati church.
Rather than keeping it all to themselves, the church donates the produce to the Southeastern Ecumenical Ministries (SEM) Food Pantry as well as to an affordable housing complex where some seniors live.
Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati has at least one tomato guru. (Photo by Myriams Fotos via Pixabay)
“Things that are grown here are eaten within a couple miles of here, and I think that’s a beautiful way to really care for” the church’s neighbors, said the Rev. Hannah Quick, Associate Pastor for Care and Serve for the church.
Giving away produce from the garden is one of the ways Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church expresses its long-standing commitment to addressing food insecurity in the community — from leading a drive-through food pantry to holding community dinners to donating to organizations that fight hunger —and it brings the church members joy.
“It’s just a rewarding thing to do. Plus, it’s being helpful to other people,” Hovland said of the garden. “We have a crew of about half a dozen people,” and “when the pantry has too many tomatoes, we take them over to the manor (where seniors live) and they enjoy that.”
Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church is one of the many Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches deemed to be Hunger Action Congregations, a designation from the Presbyterian Hunger Program for churches that follow Christ’s example of feeding the hungry, caring for those in need and working toward justice.
Hunger Action Congregations are active in areas such as hunger alleviation, development assistance, hunger education, lifestyle integrity (intentional and sustainable living), corporate and public policy witness, and worship (such as preaching about hunger and its causes). Those who are active in all six areas are deemed Certified Hunger Action Congregations.
Over the years, Mt. Washington’s work has enriched the lives of a generational cross-section of Cincinnatians, from school children to older people. Neighbors are involved in multiple ways, including contributing compost and water for the church garden.
People can drive up or walk to the church’s mobile food pantry. (Photo courtesy of Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church)
When the church first started taking its produce to the SEM food pantry, “we were the only folks giving them fresh produce,” said Harris, garden coordinator. “Since then, they’ve found some other sources, and that’s good, but ours is still the freshest.”
Another one of Mt. Washington’s major efforts is a mobile food pantry every other month. “We set up tables in the parking lot and people basically drive up to each table,” and volunteers ask them which items they’d like, said Susie Ryan, an elder who assists with the church’s hunger work. The food is delivered by a food bank, and then “volunteers organize it all. … We usually probably serve around 100-plus families, which adds up to about 300-plus individuals.”
The church also is known for its community dinners, which are set up restaurant-style. “We have very nice cloth tablecloths, centerpieces, real dishes, good food,” Ryan said. Some of the attendees are the same people who visit the mobile food pantry, so “you get to know the people,” and it’s “always nice to see them.”
Relationship-building also is a benefit of another project — taking monthly senior boxes to the complex that also receives produce from the church. “They really do get to know the people that live there and see how people really advocate for their neighbors,” Quick said. Residents will say things like, “Oh, I don’t need cheese this week. But I know next door does.”
The Rev. Hannah Quick
Quick, who previously served Okra Abbey, a new worshiping community in New Orleans focused on hunger, was drawn to Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church partly because of its commitment to addressing hunger and it being very rooted in the local area. The church collects much-needed items, such as toilet paper and socks, for the community and also has a Little Pantry on a stand.
“While at Okra Abbey I was also serving as a supply pastor in Mississippi at Pineville Presbyterian Church,” she said. “As I was beginning to feel a pull to say goodbye to both of those communities, I was hoping to find a call that would bring together the worship leadership of Pineville and the community building and hunger ministry of Okra Abbey.”
Food and smiles are served up at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati (Photo courtesy of Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church)
As part of its hunger-focused efforts, Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church blesses various organizations financially including the Freestore Foodbank and La Soupe, both in Cincinnati. More recently, it decided to donate to some organizations in Springfield, Ohio that serve the Haitian community that’s been in the news recently because of inflammatory remarks made in the political arena.
“Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church is a beautiful example of what Hunger Action Congregations are doing around the United States,” said Andrew Kang Bartlett, associate for national hunger concerns for the Hunger Program. “MWPC is alleviating hunger by harvesting the fruits of collective labor, bountiful crops, tomato gurus, and love for their neighbors in ways that are dignified, relational and grounded in community care.”
The Presbyterian Hunger Program is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. To read more about Hunger Action Congregations, go here. Also, consider participating in the Food Week of Action through Oct. 20.
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