By Marci McPhee, JustServe Specialist, San Antonio East Stake
“Jesus said, don’t send them away until you feed them. We take these words seriously,” reads the tall orange sign at the entrance to Daily Bread Ministries. In Matthew 14:16 Jesus said these words when He took a humble boy’s offering and miraculously fed the multitude. The gigantic warehouse behind the orange sign signals that Daily Bread Ministries delivers on their commitment to Jesus’ words.
On July 16, 2019, members of the High Country Ward and the Ft. Sam Houston Military Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined community members from Patrick Conway-Keller Williams Realty Group and Guaranteed Rate, Inc. Volunteers, ranging in age from small children to senior citizens, tore open 50 pound bags of dried pinto beans and sealed them in 1 pound bags suitable for individual families. In a healthy competition between two teams, volunteers bagged hundreds of family-sized servings in just an hour.
The size of the Daily Bread operation is staggering. In 2017 they gave away 259,740 loaves of bread alone, or the equivalent of 4,995 loaves per week, in addition to milk, fresh vegetables, dried and canned goods. Daily Bread’s warehouse serves as a central location for collecting donated food and distributing it to one of their 100+ ministry partners, who in turn, run their own food banks for those in need. Because of the food donations, each $1 contributed becomes $10 of high quality fresh and shelf-stable food for needy families. In order to address the root causes of poverty in sustainable ways, Daily Bread also runs seminars such as one based on the book “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself.”
Carol Gregory, Relief Society President of the Ft. Sam Houston Military Branch, said, “What a great opportunity to join hands with others in the community to serve our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate.” The organizer of the project, Michael Litwin of Guaranteed Rate Inc., said “Daily Bread puts Jesus front and center and is not ashamed to proclaim the good news.They believe in not just feeding His children but more importantly addressing the root causes of poverty and offering education to equip them to move out of the poverty cycle.”
To learn more about Daily Bread Ministries visit their website: http://www.dbmsa.org/