Trained in Rebuilding after Disasters, NC Baptists Now Distribute Food Boxes

(RNS) — They’re best known for their post-hurricane disaster relief efforts —  ripping up homes damaged by floodwaters and rehabilitating them from the studs.

But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is remaking itself as a food distribution network, delivering boxes of produce to people struggling to get by in a state where more than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits.

in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is remaking itself as a food distribution network, delivering boxes of produce to people struggling to get by in a state where more than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits.Earlier this month, Baptists on Mission won a reimbursable $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deliver fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese and meat as part of its Farmers to Families Food Box Program.

The vast majority of that grant — about $1.4 million — will be spent on purchasing food. The remainder will go toward buying or leasing seven refrigerated trucks, paying for gas and other expenses.

The organization is working with volunteers at 185 churches and community centers across the state to help distribute the food — about 8,000 boxes a week.

“We’ve…