What Type Of Food Do We Serve At The Mission?

Category: Gospel Mission News Gospel Mission News
Published: 22 March 2017 22 March 2017

I had a question the other day from a health conscious citizen about the types of meals we serve in the soup kitchen and the food we give out in the food pantry.

I think we do a pretty good job, but there is always room for improvement and a lot of the time it depends on what we have on hand or can afford.

We get our food from Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque, rescue it from WalMart, Albertsons, Food Basket, CVS and a few Restaurants around town, we get donations from First American Bank and Freeport McMoRan of fair animals in the fall, we get donations from some of our donation boxes around town, numerous private donations that are dropped off at the Mission food pantry, leftovers from special events and a fair amount of produce that we grow in the Mission garden.

We also had a WNMU intern come in awhile back and rework all of the Mission soup kitchen recipes so they were more nutritious and used items we had regularly donated (and we published a cookbook/storybook which is available on Amazon.com).

Currently anyone who is hungry can get one of our own food boxes each month and if they meet Government guidelines they can also get another TEFAP food box that same month (if they live in our area).

The soup kitchen is open for breakfast Monday through Friday and for lunch Monday through Saturday (we are looking for a group to cook on Sundays if you are interested).

Below is the list of food we try and give out in our boxes, daily fresh food distributions and meal plans for the soup kitchen. If we don't have a certain item on hand, we ask the community at large or certain groups to step up and help us out and if we have the funds available we may purchase it.

We understand that these amounts are not very much and may not be enough to feed a family for even more than a few days, but they are meant more as a stop-gap emergency measure to keep people going until they receive their paychecks, food stamps and we use our soup kitchen for those who are truly in need on a daily basis.

We normally hand out more than 500 food boxes and serve anywhere from 3,500-4,000 meals in our soup kitchen monthly. You can read more about the demographics we serve here.

CANNED GOODS
1 Protein item (1 peanut butter, 2 tuna fish, etc)
1-2 cans of fruit
4 cans of vegetables
1-2 cans beans or legumes
1-2 can tomato or spaghetti sauce
2 packages ramen
1 Loaf bread (from cart in thrift store)
1 recipe for above

STAPLE ITEMS
1 bag pinto beans
1 bag rice
1 bag sugar
1 bag flour
1 box milk
1 bag salt
1 box spaghetti or noodles
2 desserts or snacks
1 recipe for above

DAIRY, PRODUCE AND MILK
(From daily outside distribution by the walk-in)
1-2 Dairy
2-4 Produce
1-2 Meat

Homeless
2 cans Vienna Sausage
2 Fruit Cups
1 Package crackers, nuts or snacks
1 Bottle water or juice
1 plastic spoon

DIABETIC BOX
2 Tuna Fish
2 Oatmeal
2 Frozen Vegetables
2 Frozen Fruit
2 Beans

SOUP KITCHEN BREAKFAST
Cereal
Oatmeal
Fresh Fruit, if available
Bacon or Sausage, if available
Milk
Juice
Coffee
Water

SOUP KITCHEN LUNCH AND DINNER
1 Protein item
1 (or more) Vegetables
1 Fruit (if available)
1 Bread or Grain
1 Dessert (No dessert items out until after 10 am)
Milk
Coffee
Water
Juice

Most of the time it's pretty well-balanced and enough to keep someone from starving for a short period of time.

Some of the services we offer besides food are:

A case worker for any needs besides food or clothing (counseling, ID cards, bus passes if available, food stamp applications, hms co-pays for the homeless, hud housing apps, government benefits, referals to other agencies, etc)
Nurse on call every other Wednesday
Bible Study and spiritual counseling
Life and work skills training
Volunteer opportunities for those who want to give back
Community Service hours in lieu of fines
Clothing bank
Thrift store at dirt-cheap prices
1 time household setup of needed items
Public showers, laundry and bathroom
Hygiene kits
Homeless survival kits
Women and Children's transitional home
Men's cold weather shelter
Student internships
Seniors citizen and school mobile food pantries
We could always use some extra help in the form of volunteers, cash or goods or if you have any ideas on how we can improve our ministry, we'd love to talk to you!

And we are always searching for more ways to encourage, motivate and help those we serve and like to try new and creative ideas to help them get back on their feet.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.