WS Chronicle

Last week the Forsyth County Sunday School Union (FCSSU) wrapped up a partnership with the Famers to Family  Food Program that provided hundreds of boxes of food for families in need. 

The Farmers to Family Food Program was launched in April 2020 as an effort to leverage surplus produce, dairy and protein to support local farmers, food distributors, and families impacted by the pandemic. Minister Velma McCloud, coordinator of the Forsyth County Sunday School Union, said when she received the call from a distributor with the program in S.C., she leapt at the opportunity. 

“I just count it as a blessing to be able to provide during this time of need and it’s God’s way of showing us his grace and mercy,” McCloud said. “We live in an area where people are food deficient, so the fact that we’ve been able to bless people for 12 weeks is a blessing.”

The boxes of food contained two proteins or meats, milk, fruit, potatoes, and vegetables. On distribution days, more than two dozen local churches rented Uhauls, brought pick-up trucks, trailers and even church vans to pick up the boxes of food. Each pallet distributed to the churches included more than 40 boxes of food. Volunteers from Galilee Missionary Baptist Church made sure the pick-up process ran smoothly. 

Rev. Chad Armstrong, director of ministries at Galilee, said since they had already worked with the Farmers to Family Food Program in the past, they already knew they had the infrastructure to help with distribution, so the partnership between the Forsyth County Sunday School Union was a no-brainer. 

“We had the infrastructure and the volunteer support staff to collaborate with the work they’re already doing and so it was really a beautiful collaboration between the Forsyth County Sunday School Union, Galilee and then all of the churches that we’re serving. Which is really the big blessing because it’s allowing us to be collaborative and it’s allowing us to be intergenerational, and that’s what’s going to sustain the church in the future,” Armstrong said. 

The Forsyth County Sunday School Union’s mission is to support the Sunday School (Christian education) administrative and teachings of the church of the Lordship of Jesus Christ according to the biblical truths, through training, missionary giving, fellowship, and programs. For more information, visit the FCSSU Facebook page.