{"id":12787,"date":"2014-05-28T15:45:41","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T15:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=12787"},"modified":"2014-05-28T15:45:41","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T15:45:41","slug":"new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/05\/28\/new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock\/","title":{"rendered":"New Milford church feeds God’s flock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"More<\/a>

More than 40 volunteers of all ages gather at the New Milford United Methodist Church on the fourth Friday and Saturday of each month to conduct the church\u2019s \u201cFeed My Sheep\u201d project. (Photo by Tom Fontana)<\/p><\/div>\n

BY TOM FONTANA
\nCorrespondent<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor he is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under his care.\u201d (Psalm 95:7)<\/p>\n

Members of the New Milford United Methodist Church are committed to caring for God\u2019s flock in their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realize that there is a need for food and clothing in our area,\u201d explains Ron Strohl, a church member and guiding force behind the church\u2019s growing monthly project, \u201cFeed My Sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Strohl gathered some of his church friends, and convinced them of the need to \u201cspread some good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came up with a plan and presented it to our congregation,\u201d he says, \u201cand donations immediately began coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those donations were mostly in the form of cash, which was then used to purchase non-perishable food items to be distributed at the church. The first pantry was held in March 2012, and about 31 people were fed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal was to provide food late in the month when people\u2019s money is running short,\u201d Strohl says, \u201cso we picked the morning of the fourth Saturday of each month.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for the word to spread that help was available, and food donations were acquired through Feed America, connected to the Weinberg Foundation, a charitable organization in Wilkes-Barre. Even the local Pump-N-Pantry gets involved, providing cooler and freezer space for foods that need refrigeration until it\u2019s distributed.<\/p>\n

According to Strohl\u2019s estimate, the church served about 145 families this past March, which amounts to nearly 425 people.<\/p>\n

From 35 to 40 volunteers gather at the church on the Friday evening before the Saturday distribution to separate and bag food items according to various family sizes. On Saturday morning, those volunteers distribute the food from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is also a free, sit-down lunch served at noon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the lunch isn\u2019t just a sandwich and a drink,\u201d states volunteer Heather Wiggins. \u201cIt\u2019s a good, hot, tasty meal, with something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Free clothing is also available – neatly arranged according to gender, age and size – on the second floor of the church\u2019s community center, with a particularly large selection for children. \u201cClothe My Sheep\u201d opens at 10 a.m., an hour before the food distribution.<\/p>\n

Although the church hall is packed with food on distribution day, Strohl says, \u201cThere are still a lot of hungry people out there, so we keep doing this every month, and can always use more volunteers to help out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In John 21:17, Jesus quizzes his disciple Simon Peter three times with the question, \u201cDo you love me?\u201d Peter finally replies, \u201cLord you know all things; you know that I love you.\u201d Jesus responds, \u201cThen feed my sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 command to Peter to \u2018feed\u2019 was meant as \u2018spread the Word,\u2019 and the New Milford Methodist Church is spreading the word that every fourth Saturday of each month anyone needing food, clothing and fellowship is welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY TOM FONTANA Correspondent \u201cFor he is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under his care.\u201d (Psalm 95:7) Members…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Milford church feeds God's flock - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/05\/28\/new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Milford church feeds God's flock - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY TOM FONTANA Correspondent \u201cFor he is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under his care.\u201d (Psalm 95:7) Members...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/05\/28\/new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-28T15:45:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/WGSI_NMChurch_volunteers-300x138.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/05\/28\/new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/05\/28\/new-milford-church-feeds-gods-flock\/\",\"name\":\"New Milford church feeds God's flock - 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