We are a 12-plus year old ministry here at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. This ministry was established to serve people in the Gilpin Court area of our city by providing fresh fruit on a weekly basis to those in need.
Whom do we serve? We deliver fruit each week to residents of federally-subsidized housing. In many cases this is the only fruit that the recipients have in their diet, and in rare cases, it is the only food that they will have to eat on the day of delivery.
Where does the fruit come from? Parishioners who attend services at St. Stephen's Church each Sunday donate the food that we distribute. We also purchase fruit from a local grocery store each week to supplement the donations of parishioners. The funds used to purchase this fruit are allocated from the church's outreach budget.
Numbers Each week, on average, we serve 113 individuals. This amounts to 452 bags of fruit per month, or 5, 876 bags per year. Weekly expenditure on fruit is approximately $78, or a little over $4000 per year.
Benefits Besides providing a strong wellness influence to the people who we serve, we share Jesus' love by our weekly presence. It may be singing happy birthday to one of the people who we serve, or listening with compassion as another relates her battle with cancer. We are there with our offering of fruit, a smile, a hug, and an open heart.
