The Social Justice Task Force of Grace Presbytery wants to invite you, and all the folks in your congregation, to join us in gathering once more—this time to bridge the Trinity River and feed the hungry this Advent.
Come join the work and ministry of St. Luke Presbyterian Church in supporting the Veggie Project at St. Luke on Saturday, December 12th and at Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church on Sunday, December 13th.
The mission of the Veggie Project is to make fresh fruit and vegetables more available in a part of Dallas where stores that sell fresh produce are scarce. The Veggie Project has two components: encouraging congregations to plant gardens in open parts of their church property and distributing fresh produce through Veggie Stores.
There are now two Veggie Stores open in Dallas, one at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, where founder Betty Montgomery is an elder, and one at Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church.
You are invited to come and join us as we try to help meet a great need that is increasing exponentially, even as the eviction moratorium expires and Dallas may see up to 40,000 families evicted across the city.
Food and shelter are the greatest needs of all, from Mary and Joseph, to these local families.
You can RSVP to attend via Facebook, or just show up!
Saturday, December 12 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.*
St. Luke Presbyterian Church
5915 Singing Hills Dr, Dallas
*donations of fresh produce need to arrive by 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, December 13 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church
6000 S. Hampton Rd., Dallas
*donations of fresh produce need to arrive by 12:00 p.m.
If you cannot make the journey to Oak Cliff, please take your fresh veggie donations to one of the hubs listed below or one of the many Community Distribution Partners or feeding network agencies shared in the links.
South
Crossroads Community Services in South Dallas, serves as a North Texas Food Bank “hub” southern in Dallas County distributing food at their headquarters and through a network of 80+ Community Distribution Partners (CDPs), and feeding network agencies. CDPs and agencies are the “spokes” that have staff or volunteers pick up the food from Crossroads and give it to clients at their location. Crossroads acts as a mini-food bank for both CDPs and agencies.
East
Sharing Life Community Outreach located in Mesquite, serves as a North Texas Food Bank hub demonstrating compassion and dignified, benevolent services to families in Southeastern Dallas, Rockwall, and Kaufman County. Sharing Life distributes food at the Opal J Smith Food Pantry and through 75 food pantries and Community Distribution Partners (CDPs) located in 35 zip codes and 3 counties. These smaller, neighborhood-based program sites distribute food closer to where people live.
North
North Texas Food Bank works closely with more than 200 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other facilities to get nutritious food to those who need it. These strategic partnerships are critical to fighting hunger in North Texas. Since the pandemic began (March through September) more than 63M meals were distributed, a 45% increase as compared to the previous year. The Perot Family Campus in Plano accepts food donations. Food is distributed through a network of pantries.
West
Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth serves food pantries in 13 counties in North Texas: Tarrant, Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell and Wise. TAFB has increased distribution through its network of 330 partners by 65 percent and added 35 emergency mobile food pantries per week to solve for the increased need in our community since the pandemic began.