So far, Church Community Services’ ‘Seed to Feed” program has harvested 17,500 lbs. of food for Elkhart’s food pantries

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Caring, Church Community Services, Community, Community Services, Donations, Donors, Farmers, Food, Food bank, Food Pantry, Fresh Garden Vegetables, Gardening, Helping Neighbors, Hunger, Seed to Feed, Volunteers

‘Seed to feed’ is a program through Church Community Services where fresh produce is provided to local food pantries. The idea started two years ago and last year, 55 acres of corn and beans were planted to help fund the project and a one acre vegetable garden was planted. Shortly after its start, another garden was donated and a farmer donated 3 acres of potatoes.

Volunteers at Goshen’s garden work hard to harvest the last of summer produce. Volunteers are always needed to help pick vegetables from the programs many gardens. Donations of extra food from individual gardens are also accepted.

In its first year, 25,941 pounds of fresh produce was donated. This year the goal is the same and community involvement has increased. This summer six gardens were planted and so far, 17,000 pounds of produce has been harvested. Money from the cash crops has been used to go to the Wakarusa Produce Auction to purchase additional produce.

There are two fields of income crops being grown and this year a livestock component has been added as well.

More about ‘Seed to Feed’ HERE and HERE.

Jeremy Shue, Director of the Goshen Garden, with volunteers stand proudly behind vegetables they just harvested.

‘Seed to Feed’ thanks all the volunteers who give generously of their time and their muscles to help in the gardens. Listed below are all the gardens and scheduled work days.

PLEASE CALL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE!

Goshen Garden: 14723 CR 36, Goshen. Mondays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Jeremy Shue: jeremyshue@gmail.com. 574-536-2010

Bullard Garden: 22104 CR 14, Elkhart. Tuesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Kurt Bullard: Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-298-9059

CCS Garden: 902 Thomas St, Elkhart. Wed & Thurs @ 8:00am. Coordinator: Katie Jantzen: mailto:Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-295-3673 ext 122

Northwest Goshen: 538 S. Indiana Ave, Goshen. Wednesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Andrea Milne andreajillmilne@gmail.com. 574-400-5858

Heart’s Desire Garden: 3030 Old US 20, Elkhart. Thursdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Dave Hochstetler Dhhooch@aol.com. 574-349-4905

See you at the gardens!

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Today was ‘Go Orange for National Hunger Day’

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Caring, Church Community Services, Community, Community Services, Food Pantry, Helping Others, Hunger, National Hunger Day, Need, Orange

One in six Americans don’t have enough to eat.

According to Marijo Martinec, the Director of Community Impact at the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, “Sixteen percent of residents in Northern Indiana don’t have enough to eat every single day.”

September is Hunger Action Month and Thursday and today, September 5th, was ‘Go Orange for Hunger Day’. In response, in 6 counties across Indiana, businesses and community members  proudly wore orange, to raise awareness about hunger insecurity.

Mike Downing, Church Community Services’ Pantry Manager, celebrated hunger action day by sporting his orange shirt. Did YOU wear orange today?

So far this year, Elkhart County’s food bank,Church Community Services has helped 15,580 families. 27,190 families  were helped by Church Community Services in 2012 and 27,395 families received help in 2011.

Church Community Services is located at 907 Oakland Ave., Elkhart, Indiana 46516. To volunteer, donate or inquire about services, call (574) 295-3673. For information on the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, you can visit their website.

Geocel, a local Sherwin-Williams company, helps Elkhart County residents

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Aid, Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Empowering Women, Food Pantry, Helping Neighbors, Love, Need, Service, Soup of Success, Volunteer

Elkhart County’s Church Community Services quickly found ways for Geocel employee volunteers to assist them in serving the Elkhart County area.

Last Wednesday, 9 employees from Geocel assisted Elkhart County’s Church Community Services in a variety of ways. From 12:30 – 2:30, one group helped the Food Bank of Elkhart County sort hundreds of pounds of food, while the other group helped Soup of Success by assembling over 150 ‘No Worry Vegetable Curry’ soups.

The Sherwin-Williams Company often encourages their employees to find ways to give back to their own communities. So recently Sherwin-Williams contacted Church Community Services in the hopes that they could connect with Geocel, a local Sherwin-Williams company that specializes in sealants and adhesives. The goal was to determine if the Geocel leadership team might be able to engage their employees in the Elkhart community in a sustainable, meaningful way.  Because of the large demand for help throughout Church Community Services’ organization right now, they quickly found work them to do.

Continue reading HERE.

To donate to Church Community Services, visit their website or Facebook page and click on the donation button! Or call (574) 295-3673. So far, 14,787 families have been helped by Church Community Services in 2013

CHURCH COMMUNITY SERVICES

NEEDS WOOL SWEATERS!

If you come across wool sweaters in a thrift store or in the depths of your basement, attic or closet, Church Community Services would love to have them! The mittens being made from them are gorgeous and help empower women.

HELP! VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

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Church Community Services, Community Garden, Community Service, Food Pantry, Fresh Produce, Help Needed, Volunteer

HELP!

Church Community Services is in need of some good hearted folk who aren’t afraid of doing some lifting, to help out in the warehouse. We need 4 people Monday – Friday from 12-3 p.m. If you can assist with any of those shifts, please contact Gwen at 574.295.3673.

Call soon, call often. Thank you!

Church Community Service Warehouse

People of all ages contribute their time and muscles to picking vegetables at Goshen’s ‘Feed to Seed’ community garden.

Volunteers needed to help harvest vegetables.

Church Community Services’ Feed to Seed gardens are starting to explode with fresh vegetables. Help is needed to harvest the produce.

As of today, Church Community Services’ food pantry program has provided a grand total of 23,468 lbs of vegetables so far this year to clients throughout Elkhart County!

Thanks to all the volunteers who give generously of their time and their muscles to help in our gardens. Listed below are all the gardens and scheduled work days.

PLEASE CALL IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE!

Goshen Garden: 14723 CR 36, Goshen. Mondays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Jeremy Shue: jeremyshue@gmail.com. 574-536-2010

Bullard Garden: 22104 CR 14, Elkhart. Tuesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Kurt Bullard: Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-298-9059

CCS Garden: 902 Thomas St, Elkhart. Wed & Thurs @ 8:00am. Coordinator: Katie Jantzen: mailto:Kurtbullard4444@gmail.com. 574-295-3673 ext 122

Northwest Goshen: 538 S. Indiana Ave, Goshen. Wednesdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Andrea Milne andreajillmilne@gmail.com. 574-400-5858

Heart’s Desire Garden: 3030 Old US 20, Elkhart. Thursdays @ 5:30pm. Coordinator: Dave Hochstetler Dhhooch@aol.com. 574-349-4905

See you at the gardens!

CHECK OUT: Church Community Service’s New Food Pantry

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Church, Church Community Service, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community Service, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Business Donations, Elkhart County Indiana, Food, Food bank, Friends, Good Deeds, Goshen Indiana, Helping, Helping Friends, Helping Hand, Labor of Love, Michiana Tea Party Coalition, Neighbors, Volunteering, We the People 912

Labor of Love, which included businesses from St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, as well as “We the People” 912 and  the Michiana Tea Party Coalition distributed 80 bins and were among the first contributors to the new pantry.

More and more Elkhart County families are struggling on a daily basis to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. It isn’t just the unemployed either. Parents are working multiple jobs and skipping meals just so they can make sure their children are fed.  They have tough decisions to make every day: whether to fill up the car or put food on the table; whether to pay the utilities or put food on the table; whether to pay the rent or put food on the table. All it takes is one illness, one dead car battery or one rent hike and they can no longer take care of their family without help.

For those without family or friends nearby, Church Community Services provides hope , in the form of food and education and finanacial assistance to families going through hard times in Elkhart County.  When families are living in poverty, they have to do without a lot of things – food should not be one of them.

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012 was a huge day for Church Community Services.

It was the grand opening of Church Community Services’ long awaited renovated food pantry and warehouse.  Church Community Services has been working towards making this transition for 4 years.  The new building will give them the resources, space, and opportunity to better serve needs in our growing community.  It will allow them to store and distribute more food. It  will be cleaner and more welcoming, and will give space to be more volunteer- and client- friendly. They will also be able to put more focus on education, such as providing handy recipes and nutritional facts.

The new pantry is 1,225 sq. ft. compared to the former 494 sq. ft.  The new warehouse is 2,910 sq. ft. compared to the current 1,680 sq. ft.  There is also a 864 sq. ft. welcome center complete with a children’s area, and a prayer room for anyone who feels a need to pray. Lots of love and labor was put into this project, and IT SHOWS!

This nutrician video, full of advice on meal planning, preparation and nutrition runs 24/7 in the waiting room.

Amazing things happen when we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit’s prayer. Church Community Service’s new pantry facility includes a chapel to assist client’s needs.

Here is part of the children’s play area where volunteers watch the children while their parents shop at the pantry.

The ‘Seed to Feed’ vegetables look so good! Fresh garden vegetables are ALWAYS so appreciated.

Mary Kneller, Food Director for Church Community Services, generously used up some of her very valuable time to show me the new facilities. It was a real pleasure.

Help Labor of Love fill Elkhart County’s food pantries

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Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Community Service, Elkhart County, Elkhart County 4-H Fair, Elkhart County Indiana, Elkhart Indiana, Emergency Food, Food Pantry, Give, Indiana, Republican Party (United States), Starbucks, United States

Your food donations are needed.

For 44 years, Elkhart Church Community Services Church Community Services, a faith-based not-for-profit agency has helped people in Elkhart County, Indiana, weather life’s storms and build more secure futures. They do do this through emergency assistance and intensive job and life skills training.

So far, in 2012 Church Community Services has assisted over 16,000 families.

Leave your non-perishable food items at businesses in boxes displaying this sign.

Food drop-off locations

Elkhart: Hart City Resale Store, Martin’s Grocery, Starbucks (U.S. 33), GOP Elkhart Victory Center, Miles Lab Restaurant, Sport’s Time Family Pub, McDowell Plating Co., Dibley Chiropractic Center & Family Video Stores

Goshen: Family Chiropractic Clinic

Wakarusa: Larimer Furniture Store, The Dime Store, The Dollar General Store (on Hwy. 19), Forest River Corp.

Mishawaka: Futon Factory, All Famiy Video Stores, B & B Molding and the Mishawaka GOP Victory Center

Kids waiting in the pantry while their parents shop.

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‘Strong Woman’ from Soup of Success…because we need to hear MORE good news

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Challenge, Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Community, Community Service, Constitution, Education, Education Empowers, Elkhart County, Elkhart County Indiana, Ensuring Success, Family Fun, Food, Food Pantry, Freedom, Goshen, Indiana, Life Skills, Need, Soup of Success, Volunteer, Volunteering, Women, Work

Need some inspiration?

WEEKLY ‘SEED TO FEED’ UPDATE…IT IS ALL GOOD!

Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2012 7:45 AM
Subject: Seed to Feed Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

This past week we had two great harvests at both of our gardens. There
were 29 volunteers who showed up at the Bullard Garden on Monday and 25
volunteers at the Goshen Garden on Tuesday. Thank You all.

We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking to 6:00 p.m. We are moving the time of the Bullard Garden picking on Monday evenings. We still need 30 volunteers to pick green beans and sweet corn. Although we will pick on Monday evenings, if anyone wants to pull weeds between the rows, please do so at your own time schedule. If more weeds are pulled,that means more beans get picked. The Bullard Garden is
directly across from Sorg Jewelers, C.R. 17. With 30 volunteers, weeds pulled and fast pickers, we could pick a 1000# of green beans in 3 hrs—-we have lots of beans!!!!!

The Goshen Garden has tons of green tomatoes that should be ready
soon. We will pick every Tuesday at 6:00pm and it is located at 14723
C.R. 36. Last week with 25 volunteers, we picked 11 boxes of beans, tomatoes
and peppers in 1 1/2 hours.

This was a great week and thanks to ALL the volunteers that came and
helped pick. See you Monday and Tuesday at the gardens.

Blessings
Dave Hochstetler

‘Seed to Feed’ has yielded 510 pounds of food so far this summer! More volunteers needed!

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Community, Community Service, Food, Food Pantries, Food security, Garden, Goshen, Green bean, Harvest, Home, Home-Grown, Potatoes, Sweet corn, Tomatoes, Tuesday, Vegetables, Volunteer, Volunteering

Posted on August 10, 2012 by churchcommunityservices

Yield from the Goshen farm.

Beautiful produce from our beautiful Seed to Feed acre in Goshen.  Our clients are so happy!

Fresh vegetables for Elkhart Counties food pantries.

Fresh air, exercise, good honest dirt, and service that helps sustains CCS’s food supply: From now till the end of harvest season, Seed to Feed will need at least 15 volunteers 2 days a week. We will pick the green beans and sweet corn at the Bullard Garden every Monday at 9:00am. It is located on C.R.17 and Middlebury St, directly across from Sorg Jewelers on the west side of C.R.17.

The Fresh Produce Garden in Goshen will be picked every Tuesday at 7:00pm. It is located at 14723 CR36. It is just east of CR33 about 1/8 of a mile on the north side of CR36. The gardens are really starting to produce nice yields each week and should until the end of the season. If you can help, please contact Church Community Services either by email (dhhooch@aol.com) or phone (574-349-4905).

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Volunteers needed this week to help Seed to Feed’s garden (part of Church Community Services)

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Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community, Community Church Service, Community Service, Fellowship, Fresh Air, Garden, Gardening, Good Exercise, Green bean, Helping, Helping Neighbors, Home, Philanthropic, Philanthropy, Volunteer

Our first Seed to Feed harvest — so beautiful. Much more to come!

There are some really IMPORTANT events coming up this next week. Volunteers are needed to pick green beans at the Bullard Farm on Monday, Aug 6th at 9:00 a.m.

The location is on CR17, just south of CR14 on the west side of the road. It is directly across from Sorg Jewelers. 8 to 10 volunteers are needed.

‘Seed to Feed’ also needs help picking produce and tying up tomato plants in the Goshen garden. The meet-up time is at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug 7th. The garden is located on CR 36, just east of CR 33 by about 4-5 blocks on the north side.  As they start to get good yields from the garden, ‘Seed to Feed’ wants to thank all the volunteers who come out to help and to welcome our newest volunteers who are joining our weekly updates.

Thanks to the Elkhart community for supporting the “Seed to Feed” program.

When the Seed to Feed program started, there were only two people and an idea. Now the group has 40 members and 70 acres of land. Dave Hochstetler is the coordinator for the Seed to Feed program, which is trying to grow fresh produce for Church Community Services, an Elkhart food pantry. The group held its first harvest on Tuesday with volunteers coming out to help pick.

The garden is one acre, full of peppers, onions, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes and green beans. They have 70 acres of land total, with some acres full of crops they can sell and use the proceeds to buy produce at auction.

Volunteers working in the garden in Goshen.

While the program only extends to Church Community Services, its organizers hope to expand it so they can help all of the 30-plus pantries in the Elkhart County area.

The Future Farmers of America chapters for both NorthWood and Fairfield high schools have also become involved in the project. Students from the Future Farmers of America from both Northwood and Fairfield came out to Tuesday’s harvest.

Director of Food Services Mary Kneller came out on Tuesday to pick vegetables. Since CCS feeds about 2,500 families a month, it would take a large project to be able to feed all of them fresh vegetables.

“This is self-sustaining,” she said. “It’s exciting.”

The group started last winter and planted the seeds in late May and will continue harvesting throughout the summer and will be looking for people to help. They are also looking for other people to donate land they can use for gardening.

Kneller said she didn’t know what to expect when they first started the program. Right now the group has 70 acres and hope to grow that number until they have enough land to be able to feed all the hungry families in the area.

“It’s Elkhart County taking care of Elkhart County,” she said.

More about ‘Seed to Feed’ HERE and HERE.

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Saturday night: ‘Elkhart Memorial grad to hold concert, food drive to benefit Church Community Services’

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Caring, Church Community Services, Civic Engagement, Civic Service, Community Activism, Community Service, David Phelps, Elkhart County Indiana, Food bank, Friends, Helping, Josh Groban, Neighbors, Paxton Manly, Saturday, Volunteer, Volunteering

The county fair may wind down this weekend, but the music scene won’t, and all a fantastic show will cost you is a canned good.

A recent Memorial High School graduate, Paxton Manly will perform in his third annual concert/food drive to benefit Church Community Services (CCS) Saturday, July 28 at 7:00 p.m. The concert will be at the First Baptist Church, 53953 C.R. 17, Bristol (on the edge of Elkhart in the Six Span Bridge area). Manly offers a night of live music entertainment covering artists including Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Coldplay, U2, The Beatles, David Phelps, the Gaith Vocal Band and many more.

Your admission price? A non-perishable food item or monetary donation to CCS.

An interview of the Food Services Director, Mary Kneller, about the services CCS offers, as well as interviews of food pantry clients about their experiences.

Information from

• Elkhart Memorial grad to hold concert, food drive to benefit Church Community Services (etruth.com)

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