Here's Why I Love Angel Food Ministries 

1. Basically everybody qualifies! There are no applications or forms. You just need to want to save money!
2. It helps me (and hopefully you) save money predictably every month.
3. The food is excellent in quality. Restaurant quality only. No "seconds".
4. There are no monthly fees and no membership fees - it's completely voluntary. Like what you see this month? Order it! Don't like it... well there's always next month's menu.
5. No extra taxes... they're included in the listed prices.
6. No delivery costs. They're included in the basic cost each month.
7. Angel Food Ministries is spreading quickly all over the continental United States
8. Unlike "shopping" you never touch the food till you take it in your home. Local Angel Food Ministries volunteers pack your products in "Assembly Line" fashion to get your order ready literally in minutes. Your only wait is if there happens to be a line ahead of you when you arrive. I normally take the food to my car myself, but at our local site, the volunteers normally take it directly to your car! This is very handy for the elderly or just folks who need some help lugging stuff around.
9. The Friendly People at the Host Site! These folks are volunteers serving their community once per month out of the goodness of their heart. They do a great job.
10. Another thing I like about Angel Food Ministries is that it lets people help themselves. Instead of a hand out, it's a way for people to begin the process of bargain hunting, budgeting, and planning. It's a hand up!
11. It Just Makes Me Happy To Tell Folks About How To Save Money! (It's the way network marketing should be, but there's not a company with price values this good and, no, it's not a network marketing company!)

Do You Need Angel Food Ministries? Find Out With This Simple Poll! 

So What Do You Get In A Typical Month's Angel Food Box? 

Here is the March 2008 Menu!

(If you want another example, check out the September 2007 Menu!)

The basic menu and specials change monthly. You can use this link to see the current month's menu!

1.5 lb. Top Sirloin Roast
2 lb. IQF Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1.5 lb. Boneless Pork Fillet
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Breast Strips
1.5 lb. Boxed Lean Beef Patties
4 lb. IQF Chicken Leg Quarters
16 oz. All Meat Bologna
16 oz. Ground Turkey
24 oz. Steak-Cut French Fries
16 oz. Frozen Mixed Vegetables
16 oz. Frozen Green Beans
10 ct. Waffles
32 oz. Borden Shelf-Stable Milk
16 oz. Blue Bonnet Margarine
15 oz. Pork and Beans
15 oz. Marie Callender's Soup
7.5 oz. Macaroni and Cheese
1 Dessert Item

How To Get Started Saving Money With Angel Food Ministries ASAP! 

1. Find out if your community is served by Angel Food Ministries. Look for a host site. If they don't, don't worry, they're constantly expanding.
2. Check the menu this month to see what you want to buy! You can find the current menu here.
3. Place your order. Every host site has contact information listed. You place your order, pay by cash, check, or even food stamps and they'll give you a receipt. Keep your receipt. It tells what you've paid for and this is what you bring to the delivery site when the food is delivered.
4. Show up at the prearranged date at time with a LARGE BOX to hold every thing. By large I mean at least 24 inches across. Like I said - BIG. They'll put what you've ordered in there. (Usually our host site has a few extras if your box is too small the first time you come, but big host sites might not be able to do this.)
   
   In addition to the large box, you may want to have an ice cooler with you to hold the frozen stuff in case you want to hang around or stop somewhere else on the way home!
5. Have fun! I see old and new friends there every month. It's a great place to see and be seen! Unfortunately the staff at our host site is so fast, we have our food ready to go lickety-split.
6. Enjoy your food! You'll be surprised at home much you get and you'll feel pretty virtuous for getting so much food for so little money.

How I Think Angel Food Ministries Can Offer Such Great Deals! 

But What Do I Know - It's Just My Best Guess

I've often wondered "how do they do it?"

Of course, Angel Food Ministries is a 501c3 non profit that exists to promote a service so that helps a little, but non profits still pay the same overhead everybody else does.

So how do they save you so much money?

Here's what I came up with.

Every major grocery store chain has the same kind of centralized distribution warehouse that Angel Food Ministries essentially functions as.

They have to charge more for the same or similar items because they have brick and mortar real estate to keep up.

Angel Food Ministries works through local churches as host sites. The local church provides the building once per month and supplies the volunteers to pack your order. The volunteers take the orders and handle the local distribution because they care about people and want to help! They donate their time and service. These two things alone account for the bulk of the savings!

Here's what that does:

In a sense, we're getting about the same price as the retail store gets (or something like that).

Angel Food Ministries doesn't have to charge the retail price to us because the host sites offer their services to folks like us for free. Angel Food Ministries compensates them at the rate (last I checked) of $1 per basic box... not much for all the work the folks do.

So it's like being able to operate a major national grocery store operation with

1. No rent
2. No utilities
3. No payroll
4. No advertising expense
5. No insurance (except for their warehouse and administrative staff)
6. No plastic grocery bags or paper bags (you bring the box remember?)
7. No shopping carts
8. No coupons to process
9. No product sitting on "shelves" getting old therefore ...
10. No loss due to spoilage
11. No loss to shoplifting

Wal Mart should be so lucky to eliminate all these costs! But they can't... Angel Food Ministries CAN!

Hey, I'll take those savings any day - or at least monthly thanks to Angel Food Ministries! Won't you?

Key Angel Food Ministries Links 

Angel Food Ministries Home Page

You can find everything else from this page, but if you want to find specific pages, just keep browsing through this list!

Angel Food Ministries Host Locations

Want to find if there's a host site near you... just check here!

Angel Food Ministries Monthly Menu

Here's what's for supper this month!

Become An Angel Food Ministries Host Site!

Here are the qualifications for being a host site if your town doesn't have a host site already - or even if it does!

Some Other Cool Ways To Save Money On Your Monthly Budget! 

Here is an amazing resource to help maximize the great monthly savings already available through Angel Food Ministries.

When you can suddenly take simple ingredients and save the time, gas, tip and other hassle involved in eating out, you're likely to save even more money each month.

This resource lets you learn how to cook those amazing recipes from your favorite restaurants AT HOME so you can save money!

If you enjoy these restaurants, you'll especially want to know how to cook their specialties at home!

» Red Lobster
» Applebee's
» Chili's
» Olive Garden
» T.G.I. Fridays
» Outback Steakhouse
» Starbucks
Save Money on expensive restaurant dining by using "Copy Cat Recipes"!

Need help planning meals? Check out this as well...

Angel Food Ministries Recipes! 

Recipes By Month (Based on what's in the Box)

New recipes monthly depending on what's in the Angel Food Ministries "box"

Bethany First Church of the Nazarene Recipes

Bethany First Church of the Nazarene lists recipes as a downloadable file on their Angel Food Page monthly.

Copy Cat Recipes

Get the most out of your meat specials from Angel Food Ministries using these great recipes!

"Have You Ever Had A Problem With Angel Food MInistries?" 

Tell Why YOU Love Angel Food Ministries Too! (Or Just Say Hello!) 

Remember, don't leave without leaving a comment!

cosettelaurianna This is really wonderful lens here, I rated 5 stars for your great lens. I would like to share some thing about your lens to my friends. Check out my lens that focuses on investments Posted May 08, 2008

Rachel

Do you have an Angel Food Ministry in the Chattanooga, TN area?

Posted May 03, 2008

marie

i love angel food ministries food and the staff where i go are wonderful and helpful i have trouble with my back and climbing steps so the staff helps me with the box. thank you so much!

Posted April 29, 2008

granny

I have been an Angel Food volunteer for nearly two years and we have all 'classes' of people taking advantage of the great savings. Some of our most faithful participants buy for their college kids, their neighbor out of a job, someone who has lost a family member, and so on. We may have a lot of people with low income, but they are all 'high-class' with us. This program is a real blessing.

Posted April 21, 2008

beeobrien This is a fabulous lens and wonderful organization. Amazing. I'll be checking it out. 5 stars for you! Posted April 10, 2008

 

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How To Save Even More Money On Groceries 

Angel Food Ministries is a great foundation to your grocery cost cutting plan! Here are some other ideas!

GOOD FOOD ON A BUDGET: APPETIZING LOW-COST MENUS; TASTY RECIPES TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY; HOW TO GET BEST FOOD BUYS (BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS BOOKS)

Amazon Price: (as of 05/11/2008)

Betty Crocker's more for your money: Hundreds of ideas to help you save on: a place to live, a car, food, clothing, education, insurance, home furnishings, health care, recreation

by Betty Crocker

Amazon Price: (as of 05/11/2008)

Paula Easley's Warehouse Food Cookbook

by Paula Easley

Amazon Price: $22.95 (as of 05/11/2008)

The $5 Chef Family Cookbook: Great-Tasting Food on a Budget!

by Marcie Rothman

Amazon Price: (as of 05/11/2008)

Angel Food Ministries Video - Check It Out! 

Add Your Local Angel Food Ministries Host Site Link! 

Websites For Local Angel Food Ministry Host Sites!

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Angel Food Ministries In The News! 

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Angel Food Ministries Links 

Faith In Food: Ministry helps families make ends meet with lower-cost groceries

ColumbiaTribune.com - Rising grocery prices are what brought Jennifer Carson, 37, to Fairview United Methodist Church last Saturday to pick up an order from Angel Food Ministries. A wife and mother of three, Carson said meal planning, careful shopping and the $25 box of groceries from the ministry has helped her cut her monthly grocery bill from $400 to $200.

Angel Food Ministries aids 270 families at Owego site

OWEGO -- More than 270 families have saved money on groceries and more families are expected, said Sara Maciak, coordinator of Angel Food Ministries.

"It's spreading," she said.

Angel Food Ministries -- a national organization -- is "serving neighbors one box at a time," in an effort to relieve hunger throughout the United States, according to its Web site.

The Taylor Road site in Owego opened in June, selling laundry-basket-size boxes of food for $25 each, Maciak said. The boxes are filled with a variety of items, including meat, poultry, non-perishable food items, and occasionally eggs or fresh produce.

"It changes every month," she said.

In a grocery, Maciak said the food would cost an average $50 to $75 dollars, but through deals between Angel Food Ministries and leading food suppliers, including Tyson and Banquet, a significant cost savings is passed on to the consumer.

Angel Food Ministries Receives USDA Loan To Expand

"This is a big deal," he said. "We have an
organization right here in Georgia, in
Walton County, that is feeding families in
30 states and now we are helping them
expand their ability to serve their local,
state and national communities."

Register For The Angel Food Ministries "Compassion Bootcamp"

Angel Food Ministries (AFM) takes compassion to the next level by providing dignity based outreach - a sustainable service model that brings support back to the sponsoring church, and moves people from crisis mode to regular budgeting and healthier nutrition. Join hundreds of other AFM Host Sites and new participants at the Headquarters for a one or two-day compassion bootcamp that will open your mind and heart to new opportunities for your community.

Angel Food Ministries: Feeding People One Box At A Time

Along with running her busy household, Kim McLain is the local coordinator for Angel Food Ministries, a nationwide food ministry whose local church affiliate is McLain's church, Living Hope Assembly of God.

The program accepts government food stamps. McLain said it also can provide a lot of groceries for people using the Michigan Bridge Card, a cash assistance card available for those who qualify for state help.

"We hear people say, the work is seasonal; my husband lost his job; I'm a single mom. It fits all these criteria," she said.

The program also helps balance a budget when medical costs take an unexpected chunk out of monthly income.

Participation has increased since McLain took on the job as coordinator two years ago. She says over 100 customers have signed on since May.

Walk softly and Carry a Big Bag of Groceries.

I had the joy of accompanying the founders of Angel Food Ministry to the Compassion in Action Roundtable held in the Executive Office Building at the White House last week. What makes this unique is that Angel Food is a program that is operated almost exclusively through local churches. By providing essential nutrition to anyone who needs it, and using fresh high quality groceries with a healthy dose of meat, instead of surplus or donated goods, Angel food has grown from 34 boxes off a back porch in Georgia, to nearly a half million per month. In fact, currently in its peak months, Angel Food serves more people than the USDA Food Commodities Program. It is kind of like the 800 pound Gorilla of food ministry that is quietly serving all over the nation. It won't be long until this ministry is at a million boxes a month and grows from 35 to 50 states.

What is probably more important, is the practical and meaningful way that this ministry allows churches to energize their outreach. Rather than making food available only during the holidays or based upon whatever food can be gleaned, Angel Food is allowing local churches (some 4,000) to touch people with meaningful encouragement twice each month-once when they order from a monthly menu and then again when their food is delivered. This bi-monthly contact that is tied to quality food, in addition to the dignity that is built-in (order from a menu and participate financially along side of people from all need levels and backgrounds), make it a great outreach tool for many churches looking for a way to serve. It allows these churches to help their own members as well as show practical kindness and friendship to lots of people outside the church-ideal community service.

Food Prices In The News! 

Food prices to keep biting consumers

This morning, your bowl of cereal and milk probably cost you 49 cents. Last year, it was 44 cents. By next year, it could be 56 cents. It's enough to make you cry in your cornflakes.

The forces behind the rise in food prices - China's economic boom, a growing biofuels industry and a weak U.S. dollar - are not letting up anytime soon.

Grocery receipts are bulging, because the raw ingredients, packaging and fuel that go into the price of foodstuffs cost more than they have in decades.

Food Pantries Struggling With Shortages

Operators of free food banks say they are seeing more working people needing assistance. The increased demand is outstripping supplies and forcing many pantries and food banks to cut portions.

Demand is being driven up by rising costs of food, housing, utilities, health care and gasoline, while food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers are finding they have less surplus food to donate and government help has decreased, according to Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.

Food price hikes changing U.S. eating habits

Overall, food prices rose nearly 5 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Paula Curtis, a mental health worker in Montpelier, Vt., said her grocery bill has been steadily climbing by $10 to $20 a week. She has cut back on meat, fruit, vegetables and snack food, and buys milk at the gas station, where she said it's cheaper.

28 Million On Food Stamps To Survive - Great Depression 2008?

We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.

Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

Where Every Meal Is A Sacrifice

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania Even before he took a butcher knife to the she-goat's throat, Likbir Ould Mohamed Mahmoud knew it would only make things worse.

The goat was a living bounty in this parched city on the Sahara's edge, providing the sweet milk that filled his family's stomachs at breakfast time. But as soaring food prices worldwide have hit the poorest nations of Africa the hardest, he has been forced to join many of his neighbors in slaughtering or selling off one of their only sources of wealth -- their livestock.

By sacrificing the she-goat last month, the 39-year-old day laborer and goatherd traded the family's morning milk for dinner meat. It lasted a few days. With the family unable to afford skyrocketing prices for basic foods, he said, his two young children now cry in the morning from hunger. One recent morning, he could take it no more. He took the goat's kid -- one of the last two animals in his flock -- to the squalid livestock market here in the hopes of selling it to buy food. "Everything -- the wheat, rice, sugar and animal feeds -- is higher priced than I have ever seen them before," he said. "What will we do? Soon we will have nothing left to sell."

So What Do You Get In A Typical Month With Angel Food Ministries? 

Here is the November 2007 Menu!

(If you want another example, check out the September 2007 Menu!)

The basic menu and specials change monthly. You can use this link to see the current month's menu!

Basic Box

(1) 4 lb. IQF Leg Quarters
(1) 26 oz. Banquet Sliced Turkey Dinner
(4) 8 oz. 80/20 Lean Beef Patties
(1) 1 lb. IQF Chicken Breast
(1) 1 lb. Gourmet Sausage
(1) 1 lb. Corn Dogs
(1) 1 lb. Ground Turkey
(1) 12 oz. Philly Steaks
(1) 6.5 oz. Stroganoff Dinner
(1) 1 lb. Pinto Beans
(1) 1 lb. Rice
(1) 1 lb. California Veggie Blend
(1) 2 lb. Fresh Onions
(1) 24 oz. Natural Cut French Fries
(1) 7 oz. Blue Berry Muffin Mix
(1) Dessert Item

Specials:

** One or more specials available only with the purchase of a regular unit. **
NOVEMBER SPECIAL #1
4 lb. Steak Box - $18.00
(8 8-oz Rib Eye Steaks)

NOVEMBER SPECIAL #2
4 lb. Steak Combo Box - $18.00
(4 8-oz. T-Bone Steaks, 4 8-oz. Top Sirloin Steaks)

NOVEMBER SPECIAL #3
Our Convenience Meal - $18.00
(Specially designed for seniors and people on the go from Golden Cuisine Five Individual Complete Meals (1 entrée & 2 sides per meal) Includes: 5 Skim Milk, 5 Slices of Bread, 5 Margarine Portions, 5 Desserts: Home-style Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce; Flamed Broiled Salisbury Steak with Gravy; Turkey with Gravy and Dressing; Breaded Chicken Patty with Sweet & Sour Sauce; BBQ Pork Rib Patty)

Here is the September 2007 Menu!

The basic menu and specials change monthly. You can use this link to check the current menu for yourself anytime.

This is the Basic menu this month. It costs $28 to $30 depending on your location. It used to be that everywhere was the same price until fuel prices started skyrocketing. The farther from the distribution center in Georgia, the more likely you pay the higher price. But the good thing is that ALL STATE TAXES ARE INCLUDED!

(1) 4 lb. Instant Quick Frozen Leg Quarters (Chicken)
(1) 24 oz. Beef Back Ribs
(1) 1 lb. 80/20 Lean Ground Beef
(1) 2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
(4) 6 oz. Bone in Pork Chops
(1) 1 lb. Ground Turkey
(1) 18 oz. Stuffed Manicotti (Cheese)
(1) 12 oz. Smoked Sausage
(1) Betty Crocker Seasoned Potatoes
(1) 7 oz. Cheeseburger Dinner
(1) 16 oz. Green Beans
(1) 16 oz. Baby Carrots
(1) 2 lb. Onions
(1) 1 lb. Pinto Beans
(1) 1 lb. Rice
(1) 7 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix
(1) 10 ct. Homestyle Waffles
(1) Dessert Item

Of course items are subject to change, but if you go to your grocery store and take this list, I think you'll be pretty impressed by the cost.

There are also monthly specials which you can buy IF you purchase the basic box in any given month.

This month the specials are as follows:

SEPTEMBER SPECIAL #1
T- Bone Box - $20.00
(6 10-oz T- Bones)
SEPTEMBER SPECIAL #2
4 lb. Beef Combo Box - $20.00
(4 8-oz. New York Strip Steaks, 4 8-oz. Sirloin Strip Steaks)
SEPTEMBER SPECIAL #3
10 lb. Popcorn Chicken - $17.00
SEPTEMBER SPECIAL #4
Family Convenience Meal Special from Golden Cuisine - $20.00
(Five Delicious Dinner Entrees: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Roasted Chicken Dinner, Meatloaf Patty & Gravy, Fettuccini Alfredo, Country Herb Chicken. Includes five breads, five skim milks, ten margarine cups, and five desserts.)

As mentioned, Angel Food Ministries reserves the right to make substitutions as necessary, but usually it's in the basic menu section. I've never personally had a substitution in a "special".

Also all food from Angel Food Ministries is restaurant quality... no seconds, no "bents and dents", etc.

The food is either private labeled to their specifications or "brand name".

As you can tell, there are no fresh vegetables included, no condiments, usually no coffee or tea (though I've seen gourmet coffee as a special), no bread or dairy (other than the occasional carton of shelf stable milk).

And of course no personal items, vitamins, detergents, etc.

So despite all you're savings, no local grocery store is going to go out of business due to Angel Food Ministries.

Here is the October 2007 Menu!

(If you want another example, check out the September 2007 Menu!)

The basic menu and specials change monthly. You can use this link to Gravy
(1) 24.5 oz. Supreme Pizza
(1) 2 lb. Chicken Chunks
(1) 24 oz. Pork Roast
(1) 16 oz. Chicken Breast Fajitas
(1) 12 ct. Corn Tortilla
(1) 15 oz. Pork & Beans
(1) 16 oz. Fresh Carrots
(1) 24 oz. Homestyle Hashbrowns
(1) 16 oz. Corn
(1) 16 oz. Bean Soup Mix
(1) 5.5 oz. Pancake Mix
(1) 7.5 oz. Mac & Cheese
(1) 7 oz. Lasagna Dinner
(1) Dessert Item
ALL THIS FOR THE LOW COST OF JUST $25
** One or more specials available only with the purchase of a regular unit. **
OCTOBER SPECIAL #1
Meat Combo Box - $18.00
(4 8-oz. T-Bones, 2 lb. Ribeye Roast)
OCTOBER SPECIAL #2
Strip Steak Special - $18.00
(4 8-oz. K.C. Strip Steaks, 4 8-oz. New York Strip Steaks)
OCTOBER SPECIAL #3
Family Convenience Meal Special from Golden Cuisine - $18.00
(Five Delicious Individual Dinner Entrees with 2 sides per meal: Cheese Manicotti, Macaroni & Beef, Beef Pattie & Gravy, Chicken & Noodle, Chicken Breast & Mushroom Sauce, Includes five breads, five milks, ten margarine cups, and five desserts.)