Harvest and Food Banks

We had our Church's Harvest Festival last week.

It is an event that I look forward to.

The event is different to other services there or at other churches. It isn't all "God" and "Jesus" and focusing on Christianity.

Instead it is all about community and giving; something I wish our church was more about.

We invite our local Cubs, Scouts and Guides to the service. We make the service more family friendly rather than having a service where the adults listen to the sermon and the kids go to the youth group.

We listen, learn and watch information on Food Banks. We hear statistics from up and down the country and what our local one specifically does.


All the food that is brought goes straight to the food banks as well as the monetary collection.

We stop thinking about ourselves and have others in the forefront of our minds.

Although the church does other charity events and collections as well as having regular charities that we partner and sponsor the harvest service, for me, hits harder.

Food banks impact every one of us in one form or another.

Most of us, even if we don't directly know them, know someone who has used a food bank. This could be a friend, family, colleague or even a family whose child is friends with yours. The sad truth is that out of the 2,000 Food banks across the UK the need for more of them is clear.

People who use them do not fit any stereotype of what poverty should look like, but these are among the rising numbers of people turning to food banks.

It was recently recorded that there's been a 19% annual increase.

I, for quite a few years, was one of the people who used them.

At the time I couldn't afford to feed myself. I was just capable of feeding the boys.

There were days when I was looking into empty cupboards and trying my hardest to find or concoct a meal out of what we had left.
It's hard because you have an installed proudness where you don't want to show that you can't support or feed your family but you have no other choice but to seek help.

The Food banks kept us going. I was lucky. Friends, ones who I made through this blog, helped support a couple of shopping deliveries. Something that I appreciated and won't ever forget.

I got past it. I got out of that dire situation and managed to claw back financially and now am in a position where we can regularly give back. Not just an action every October for a Harvest Festival but when we can throughout the year.

To see how a small community can come together and help others is amazing. I know that the partnership we offer can have a massive impact in people's lives.

6 years ago I couldn't give. How could I give when I was collecting from the food bank myself?

William was of an age where he understood what was happening because he did it at school but we had nothing to give.

We searched our cupboards and we had enough to bake some biscuits. They couldn't be given but they could be a form of giving to our church family.

From that, every year, he has found a way to give in his own right.

The 1st year he did shortbread, 2nd year a shortbread “picture”, 3rd year Cat and kitten shaped flavoured bread, 4th year a massive cheese straw tree and last year, a basket made of different flavoured breads with different loaves inside to represent the feeding of the 5,000.

This year he wanted to go bigger and better so made a cake shaped like Noah's Ark and made biscuit animals.

It has always been HIS way of giving something of his own. The action has come from hardship and desperation to being in a position where we can help those who need it. We have the opportunity now to give back to society and give a range of food to those who need it but also to support the community who is trying to help others.

I find that the moment we come together as a community to help others is actually our truest reflection.

We get caught up in ourselves, what's happening in our lives and in doing so lose some of the truest parts of an altruistic society and community. Churches are no different. They preach about loving your neighbour, being kind to others and even helping your enemy and yet they get caught up in tradition, routine and one clear focus, God.

Seeing the community, including Children like Will, come together and try to make an impact is amazing. Nothing to do with what they "have to do" but because they want to.

Harvest Festival and regular giving to Food banks is incredibly important. We might not have always been able to "give" in the traditional way but we try even in the smallest amounts. Something I hope we continue to do.

** 3 Pictures were taken from the Trussel Trust. Network supporting food banks*