Hunger is a condition that no one should have to face. The Henryetta Church of Christ is fighting that condition for young and old through several food programs.
Rex Walcher heads up the church and the program and told Henryetta Lions Club members some 150 to 220 families each month receive food through their Food Pantry, Backpack Program, Wal-Mart purchases and Soup Kitchen.
He explained the food pantry has a distribution on the second Thursday of each month and provides around 12,000 pounds of food to the families.
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"They (the recipients) have to meet income requirements, show proof of residence in Henryetta and give us the number of dependents in the family," he explained.
The distribution amounts to some $150 worth of groceries per individual and is designed to provide some three to five days worth of food.
In an effort to fight hunger for local children whose main source of food comes from the school cafeteria, the church has set up a Backpack Program.
Students selected by teachers receive about three to five pounds of non-perishable foods including cereal, juice, canned meat so they can eat over the weekend.
"We do this for three school districts, Wilson, henryetta and Graham," he said. That amounts to some 120 sacks per week.
A Friday distribution comes from purchases at Wal-mart. The church works with Feeding America. Food is obtained at the Okmulgee Wal-Mart store and goes to Okmulgee on Monday and Wednesday then Henryetta on Friday.
The church had started a Soup Kitchen on Wednesday nights but that has not been in operations for some time.
Providing the food is a massive undertaking for the church. He said volunteers are used to help certify recipients as well as fill the sacks, pick up the food and sort it.
The expense for the program is not underwritten by the church. Instead it depends upon donations from area residents. "The Masons have done a couple of fundraisers for us," he added.
"It's a good program. It reaches a lot of people. We average spending about $3,000 to $4,000 a month on food."