Food Drive For Operation Blessing

On Sunday, October 23, Living Hope Church will begin collecting boxes of dry cereal for Operation Blessing-South, a food pantry located in Crestwood, serving people in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago. Those who come for worship on Sundays October 23, October 30, and November 6 are invited to bring one or more boxes of dry cereal to church. The boxes will be collected and delivered to Operation Blessing in time for distribution this coming Thanksgiving season. This initiative has been prompted by Living Hope's first Missional Community.

You may have read about Operation Blessing in a September 13, 2011 story by Phil Kadner entitled "Thanking the Lord for food violates federal rules" (Southland News). In that article Kadner reported that the relationship between the Illinois Department of Human Services and Operation Blessing has been terminated, resulting in a significant loss of financial support for the food pantry. The relationship between the two agencies was severed because Operation Blessing staff insists on praying with those who pick up food from the pantry. That practice is a violation of federal law. Frank Sorice (pictured above), manager of Operation Blessing-South, said, "We told them that we're not going to stop praying here, and so they stopped sending us food from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). So, as Kadner wrote, "No government food if you pray."

In the wake of that decision, it is time for local churches in the Crestwood region to step up and partner with Operation Blessing-South. For that reason, Living Hope Church looks forward to collecting boxes of dry cereal for three Sundays this fall. In this small way, we hope that Jesus will one day say to us, "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat."