This time of year, feasts and family get-togethers are on most people’s agendas. It’s also a time to reflect on all that we have been given in abundance and to give thanks for those blessings. Unfortunately, not all our neighbors share in this abundance and are struggling just to set food on the table daily. I recently spoke with Scott Meier, director of missions at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church, about their food bank and the ways you can help them serve the community.
What areas/demographics does your food bank serve?
The McFarlin Food Pantry serves people/families who live in Norman, Noble and Little Axe. We serve people who are in need of food. We don't question why someone would come to our food pantry; if they show up, we assume they have a need, and we fill that need as best we can. Our Food Pantry is open Tuesdays and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Clients can visit the food pantry once every 14 days.
What makes Norman such an incredible place to live is there are many people who are willing to help those in need. No church or organization can do it on their own; partnering with each other to figure out the places where people are in need and then finding a way to help is what makes a community truly strong. McFarlin is not special. We are just one entity in this community working to make the world a better place.
How many people do you serve monthly?
We have served over 1,650 families so far in 2021. The majority of those families we helped more than once. The number ebbs and flows each month, so to get a true feeling of our impact, it is best to look at the yearly total.
What is different about your food bank?
Norman is blessed to have some great food pantries, all with the desire of helping people and families in need. One of the most important things to think about is that food pantries help people stretch their available dollars. If we can provide a family with some food, then they can use that money to pay rent, pay for health care and transportation, buy clothing for their children, etc.
Each year in the United States, about 108 billion pounds of food is wasted, according to Feed America. With that amount, no one in America should go hungry. The McFarlin Food Pantry helps get food into the hands of people in need. Part of the food we receive is retail recovery (food that would otherwise be disposed of) from Target (about 15,000 to 20,000 pounds per month), Aldi (about 200 pounds per month) and Homeland (about 1,000 pounds per month).
We also run a Mobile Food Pantry that delivers each Tuesday night to one of our Partner Schools in Norman: Adams Elementary, Jackson Elementary, Madison Elementary and Irving Middle School. We do this to help make food more accessible to those in need.
What can readers do to help you provide services?
There are two ways to help ... one is to donate funds to our Food Pantry. While we accept gifts of non-perishable food, money allows us to buy what is needed, while searching for the best available prices. We work with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, which provides us with most of the food we distribute, and those funds donated help us get the most for our money.
Second, we are always seeking people to volunteer. Visit our website (listed below) to learn more and to sign up to volunteer.
What other forms of assistance does McFarlin offer?
The mission statement of McFarlin Methodist Church is “Changing Lives That Change the World.” This guides everything that McFarlin does ... we are all about changing peoples' lives and changing the world.
In addition to our Food Pantry, we have a Utilities Assistance Ministry that helps people with their utilities. We recently funded and built a Habitat for Humanity house in Noble. We have four partner schools (Adams, Jackson and Madison elementary schools, and Irving Middle School). And we partner with local organizations in helping them carry out their missions. These include Food & Shelter, Bridges, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Women's Resource Center and Norman Coalition for Refugee Support. We also have a partnership ministry in Tanzania where we support a church, an elementary school, a medical clinic, a Pastors' Training School and the building of water wells.
Find out more about this church and volunteer opportunities at McFarlinUMC.org.