Classis In The News

NEW APPROACH FILLS UP TORONTO FOOD BANK

By Sophie Vandenberg

The shelves at a food bank operated by The Lighthouse, a Christian Reformed outreach ministry in central Toronto, went from empty to overflowing recently.

When the food bank could not keep up with the ever-increasing demand for food, Mike Schoonhoven, a diaconal ministry developer for Classis Toronto, suggested the use of actual grocery bags to encourage giving.

The Lighthouse printed 10,000 large brown paper “Blessing Bags” with the organization’s name, address, and a shopping list.  The suggested non-perishable grocery items listen on the side of the bag ranged form tuna to toilet paper.  Deacons from participating churches then distributed the bags to church member’s mailboxes.

The response from the 11 area Christian Reformed churches to the food drive was over whelming: 11,00 full grocery bags were delivered to the food bank.  “We’ve been told that it’s hard to ignore a large paper grocery bag in your church mails lot,” said Ben Vanderlugt, executive director of The Lighthouse. Vanderlugt said that people liked the concreteness of the project.

From The Banner, January 2004.  Used by permission.