Totally Giving Back

Totally Giving Back: Churches help feed students during holiday break

Churches in the Grand Lake area are making sure young students have food to eat when schools aren’t in session.

School districts often are the main source of nutrition for many students from August through May. However, during the holidays when schools are closed, some children don’t have sufficient access to food.

Thankfully, seven churches in Celina, Ohio, are filling that void. They have stepped up the past seven years to make sure local kids don’t go hungry during the holiday season. In December 2023, they helped feed 200 students during the eight-day holiday break.

Serving youth, feeding souls

The churches’ Christmas Food Bags project gives two bags filled with food to each participating kindergarten through fourth-grade student. The items placed in each tote bag are designed to feed the children breakfast and lunch each day they are away from school.

“The volunteers filled 400 bags in an hour and half on a Sunday afternoon,” said the Rev. Matt Overman, a pastor from Grand Lake United Methodist Church.

Overman said about 15 volunteers helped fill the bags with items such as cereal, cans of soup, loaves of bread, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal and muffins.

The cost of the food for the project in 2023 was about $4,000; the money was raised by parishioners and other individuals and organizations throughout the community. The tote bags were donated by Totally Promotional.

The mission goes beyond the holidays

Overman said the churches also work with some of the participating families to feed the children during the summer months. Sometimes that involves delivering the food to the families’ homes each week, he added.

The Grand Lake United Methodist Church became involved with the Christmas Food Bags project after partnering with Revive Ohio. The nonprofit organization promotes revival across Ohio by helping local churches share the Gospel and pursue missions.

“We heard how families were being helped by churches that provided food for the students during the summer,” Overman said. “We realized there was also a gap at Christmas.”

Anyone interesting in donating to the Christmas Food Bags project can contact the Grand Lake United Methodist Church at 419-586-6621 or [email protected].