Helping the Community

Our church was featured by .CBS this past weekend for work we are doing in the community. I've copied and pasted it here.



For the past two weekends, the church has been giving boxes of groceries to people hit hard by the recession.

South Florida needed a break from depressing news: layoffs, high inflation and overdue mortgage payments. The Pastor at the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs had a plan to help those in need: a grocery giveaway.

"A lot of our families were hurting and we thought we'd like to help them. We can't pay mortgage and light bills, but groceries," explained Pastor David Hughes.

And so Hughes brought in groceries by the truck load. For the past two weekends, the church has been giving boxes of groceries to people hit hard by the recession.

Laura Pereira is struggling to feed her family. She says the donations are a godsend. "Prices have gone up," she told CBS4 Reporter Joan Murray. She gladly accepted a box full of groceries and one loaded with toiletries. "Just to make a regular meatloaf is $15 for chopped meat. I try to bargain shop these days. Coupons, anything I can do to lighten the load."

The load gets a lot lighter with just one box: each has enough food for a week. Inside, thankful families find macaroni and cheese, canned goods and even snack packs for lunches.

The Rivera family is also thankful. Roberto and Maryel Rivera both lost their jobs last year. "It's amazing," Marybel Rivera. "We have three children. We spend $150 a week just buying the basics."

The cadet family doesn't belong to the church, but the children say the grocery giveaway will help keep their family afloat. "They're months behind paying the house bills and it's because they have to buy food. Now they don't have to do that for a week so it will help pay the bills," Charlene Cadet said.

Even church members who cannot afford to pitch in are still willing to help. They help move boxes and drink packs to waiting cars.

Pastor Hughes hopes his vision will become viral and that other churches will follow his lead. "We can do a lot of good," he believes.