At the pantry door, every person has a story

We make connections with our people – and we see them, and we minister to their needs.

Preston Boyd, mission co-chair, Southfield-Hope UMC

SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN – “The clothing closet and food pantry ministry has been around for about 20 years, and so it is engrained in the culture of Hope (UMC),” Preston Boyd explained. He co-chairs the current version of the Closet of Hope Food Pantry with his wife, Ale Jean Boyd, and Michael Boggs. The Boyds joined the church just two years ago and Michael has been a member for four years, so this trio volunteered to guide the ministry even though they were relatively new to the church.

While the official signage and website says the closet is open one Saturday a month, its volunteer staff is ready and willing to work with clients whenever they need help. The closet is open for walk-ins two days a month and by special requests. Hope UMC’s pantry model focuses on individual appointments. People who need help call the church, they receive an appointment on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday; they come in and have a conversation with pantry volunteers. There are some restrictions as to how often you can receive a food box, but most of their clients are return customers, so they get to know these community members well, even if they are not church members.

“When Jean and I stepped in, the church was still in pandemic mode and the ministry had been shut down for two years,” Preston continued. “So, when we took over, we rebuilt it with a core group of volunteers. We didn’t have very many clients at first, a whopping 14 households served in the first month. We started doing outreach into the city of Southfield – we made municipal staff aware that we were back in operation. Word of mouth spread, and we’ve grown to about 100 households per month. Part of the core volunteer team was still there, and then, as we continued to grow, new people volunteered and Mike stepped up to be co-chair with us.”

“Since our reopening, we have distributed something like 86,000 lbs. of food, which reached about 4,500 people, or 500 different households. That speaks to the effort the Boyds and the team have put into this,” Michael Boggs noted. “The volunteers are revved up and wanting to be here, because they know they are contributing to the lives of the clients we serve.”

About 50% of the people who come in for food also need clothing, so they receive help with that too. The ministry received a Community Engagement grant from Global Ministries earlier in the year, which enhanced what they could offer to clients. It meant that some families who needed additional food in a month could receive that. It also allowed them to purchase and provide necessary hygiene items and winter clothing.

“That grant from Global Ministries allowed us to really delight and surprise some people with the extras,” Preston added. Community Engagement grants are made possible by the United Methodist Voluntary Services fund, derived from the UMC Human Relations Day offerings.

Jean Boyd mentioned that the pantry is small in comparison to others in the area, but it still meets certain standards. “We are considered to be a Gold Star Pantry for Gleaners – and that’s a big certification for a pantry of our size that is not a client-choice pantry. We are small enough that we can’t have families come in and pick their own food, but we do try to give them adequate canned food, meats, and when we can get it, fresh milk and produce.”

Going another step with their clients, they provide recipes for fresh produce because: “You never know what you are going to get from Gleaners, and sometimes they send produce that people have never eaten or don’t know how to cook.”

Both Preston and Jean are retired and were former pastors of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Prior to those careers, Preston worked for Ford and Daimler, and Jean worked for an insurance company. As they get to know their clients, they pray for them…and sometimes they pray with them. One of their client families lost a child who was attacked by a pit bull. The child’s grandmother at a scheduled food distribution asked for prayer, and they took the family to the Hope Chapel. “That was one of the hardest prayers I’ve ever prayed,” said Preston.” And at the end of it, all I could do was embrace them, and assure them God was still there with them.”

Another time, a gentleman with family problems said, “my family is driving me crazy, can you come pray with me…” and they did. “I love when people get surprised by God,”. Preston noted. “He came back a few weeks later, and he says, ‘pastor, that worked!’ Well, that’s why we pray.”

Both the Hope Church congregation and the community it serves are predominantly African American, but people of other races and immigrants of other nationalities have come for help at the pantry, and all are received.

Preston described an elderly Russian lady who, at first, sat by herself at the pantry intake area. “I remember when she first came into the pantry, I made sure I knew her name. I called her and the minute I pronounced her name correctly, her face lit up. She’s not that little shy lady who sits at the back anymore. She now feels at home in this church.

“We try to make sure that we see the clients and that they see the love of Christ in what we do and that they walk away with a good experience. That shows in the surveys we do. The clients say that our pantry cares and that they appreciate the love and care we show them.”

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Human Relations Day is an opportunity to stand with other United Methodist churches to build the beloved community envisioned by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This denominationwide Special Sunday is designed to strengthen human relationships and community outreach. By participating in the Human Relations Day offering, United Methodists embrace the power of relationships, the strength of community and the good news that all of God’s children are of sacred value.

Gifts made on Human Relations Day, Jan. 19, 2024, support the Community Developers Program as well as community advocacy through the United Methodist Voluntary Services administered through Global Ministries.

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