Fighting Hunger Together

As we move toward our Daring Faith “A” goal of assisting 250,000 people in need, Saddleback Church hosted our annual Holiday Food Drive. From November 7–20, members from our church family donated non-perishable food items at each campus, in an effort to bring hope to families in our communities.

Not only do donations provide food for families during the holidays, but they also help restock Saddleback’s Food Pantry, which provides free food throughout the year to those in need. Each month, our Food Pantries serve over 2,800 people and those numbers double during the holiday season. An operation of this magnitude requires over 3,000 volunteer hours to process and distribute over 76,000 pounds of food each month.

To offer ongoing assistance to residents, Saddleback hosts three Food Drives each year, in November, April, and during the summer months. These Saddleback Food Drives brings in nonperishable items for our Food Pantries. Meanwhile, all our perishable goods come from 300 corporate locations that take part in this opportunity to serve.

According to Tessa Owens, Saddleback’s Food Pantry Assistant, the history of Saddleback’s Food Drive dates back to Easter 2009. “From the pulpit, Pastor Rick invited everyone to bring a bag of food and to bring a friend. This was during the recession, when 11% of the people in the Saddleback Valley region were unemployed. But without fail, people donated 53,000 pounds of food. This helped launch the huge undertaking of our Food Pantries, which was the first foundation of all our PEACE Centers.”

This tradition remains today, with volunteers stepping up to help those in need. In the process, people grow in faith and help lead others to Christ. To date, over 2,000 people have come to know God in our Food Pantry parking lots! Volunteers are able to share Christ’s love and explain the “whys” of what we do. This often leads to plugging them into the church family, or providing resources to help them get on their feet.

Even before our Thanksgiving drive was complete, we had served 886 families, 2,895 people, and had collected nearly 6,000 pounds of food. All our campuses participated in the Food Drive, including our newest campus in San Diego, which requested a blue barrel to fill with donations. The barrels are then sorted by volunteers at the warehouse, and the goods are distributed to people who come to the Food Pantry.

Despite the generosity of our members, the fight against hunger is far from over. “We still need more food to be donated and more people willing to serve,” explains Tessa. “This is an going process throughout the whole year, that requires an enormous amount of resources. We now have eight locations that are serving people in need. This is our opportunity to express God’s love.”

In another act to serve our community, Saddleback volunteers took part in the Thanksgiving GRIP (Gang Reduction Intervention Partnership) event on November 14 and 16.

On November 14, a team from our own Saddleback staff, joined together with 30 Ralphs employees, and 20 GRIP Officers and District Attorney employees— including the District Attorney. From 11:00 AM–3:00 PM, they graciously packed 850 meals for over 50 schools across Orange County.

All of the food was donated by Ralphs, and was packed and delivered by volunteers as a reward for students for their academic performance. In partnership with the DA’s office and the Orange County Sheriff, the program helps keep kids between 4th-8th grade out of gangs. For the past seven years, this community outreach has been sacrificially led by Saddleback’s Bonnie Taylor, Pastoral Care Ministries Manager.

“This is an opportunity to impact kids and equip servant leaders in our schools and law enforcement,” says Michelle Thune, Manager of Local PEACE outreaches. “Saddleback loves the privilege of partnering with GRIP, which provides mentoring, encouragement, and incentive programs to help elementary school kids who are at-risk for being recruited into gangs.”

Although GRIP offers many incentives throughout the year, the Thanksgiving meal is one that benefits the entire family. It gives kids a sense of providing for their families as a result to their hard work.

This year, Saddleback’s Anaheim campus took on a major role by packing 399 of the 850 meals and having 20 volunteers drive to the schools on November 16th delivery day. In total, there were 75 Saddleback volunteers who picked up meals and drove them to local schools. Each team congratulated the kids and their families as they picked up their dinners, and each child was given a certificate of achievement from Saddleback Church.

According to Michelle, “Through this program, we are watching grades and attendance go up, gang crime go down, and more and more kids pursuing dreams that they never thought were available to them. Every dinner has been earned, which makes this a very proud time for these kids’ families.”

To be part of the mission to meet our Daring Faith goal to assist people in need, contact, foodpantry@saddleback.com.