Angel Food Ministries provides relief for Wabash Valley families

By Crystal Garcia
The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE November 28, 2007 11:37 pm

— Heather Sedletzeck paid about $70 Wednesday for groceries that someone else will get for $25.
She volunteers for a church that is a host site for Angel Food Ministries, a not-for-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the nation, according to its Web site.
Angel Food Ministries began in 1994 in Monroe, Ga., and now serves 32 states.
There are at least eight local sites available to serve the people of the Wabash Valley, including the church Sedletzeck volunteers at — Faith Outreach Family Church.
For $25, a person receives a unit of food that fills a medium-sized box. Additional monthly specials also are available with the purchase. More than one unit can be bought, too. Cash, checks and food stamps are accepted.
Sedletzeck bought the groceries at a retail outlet to illustrate just how much of a savings can be realized. Angel Food Ministries’ “menu” for each month varies from $42 to $78 worth of food.
“You pay $25 for a unit of food … and it’s basically $60 to $70 worth of food,” Sedletzeck said, “and this isn’t day-old bread or damaged cans or anything like that. We get Tyson chicken and we get really good quality food for that $25 spent.”
With no applications to fill out or qualifications to meet, anyone is eligible to receive help.
“People think that ‘I make too much money’,” said Malea Crosby, Angel Food program director at Maplewood Christian Church, “or, ‘I don’t want to take away from someone else’s opportunity to get it’, but because I place an order for whatever I receive … if we had 1,000 orders, we’d order 1,000, if we had two, we’d order two, so you’re not taking away from anyone by ordering.”
Sedletzeck said it’s just about giving people a “better bang for their buck.”
Orders are handled by the church sites. The deadline for orders for December is Monday. Food will be available for pickup Dec. 15.
Although each church has different days and times to take orders, the process is similar in that people go in, give their order, pay and then come back in about a week to pick up the food.
“It meets a need, especially in our economical times right now, things have been kind of tight, but it doesn’t feel like a handout,” said Rev. Karen L. Bray of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in West Terre Haute. “ … They’re provided $50 to $75 worth of food for $25, so it’s a good deal and it saves people’s pride as well.”
It also helps a church, which receives $1 from Angel Food Ministries for each order, according to the Web site.
Stacy Johns, Angel Food program director at First Baptist Church in Shelburn, said the best thing about the program is the amount of meat that’s provided because meat is usually the biggest expense when grocery shopping.
“ … There’s always something, chicken, steaks, sometimes you get a roast, sometimes you get ground beef,” Johns said. “It’s usually at least seven to eight meat items … It’s all good food, good quality food.”
Rev. Kim I. Suits of the Terre Haute Southside Nazarene Church said the program is unlike other things that sound too good to be true and there’s no limit to the amount of units that can be bought.
“You can buy one or you can buy 50, however many you want,” he said.
Suits also pointed out how a program such as this one can be especially helpful for people with a fixed income.
“Some of those people on a fixed income, it’s either eat or buy medicine,” Suits said, “and that’s hard to believe in America, but it’s true for some people.”
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.