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South Side Community Ministries Food Pantry

Ranked #377 in Nonprofits, #110,450 overall | Donates to SSCM Food Pantry

Feeding the People...That's What it's All About!

The mission of the South Side Community Ministries (SSCM) Food Pantry is simple: We strive to provide nutritious food to those in need in the Merion Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio and in the surrounding south side neighborhoods. To accomplish this mission, we have the help of 6 churches, the Children's Hunger Alliance, the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, Hands On (formerly Firstlink) and volunteers from the south side and beyond.

Please read on and let us tell you more about the SSCM Food Pantry, about our mission mission and about how you can help us to feed the hungry.

Above is a photo of the entrance to the SSCM Food Pantry. The pantry is adjacent to St. Paul United Church of Christ at 225 East Gates Street in Columbus, Ohio. It's in one of the original parts of the church and it has been since its inception in 1934. The Food Pantry was incorporated (becoming the SSCM Food Pantry) in 1977 by several Merion Village area churches.

The Needs

The near South Side of the city of Columbus, Ohio is one of the most impoverished areas of Franklin County. The SSCM food pantry is now serving an average of over 1,200 family members each month. In April, 2012 more than 2,000 people received help with food. The pantry is on pace to provide food for more than 15,000 family members in 2012. That is exception given that we operate under monetary constraints that limit us to being open on 6 days per month for a couple of hours a day.

The numbers of people helped have increased dramatically in the past two years and they are continuing to increase even as the economy begins to show signs of recovery. Many of our neighbors are still unemployed or under-employed and they're falling through government safety nets. To provide nutritious meals to those in need, You can help through food donations, cash donations and volunteering!

Do you need food?

If you're in the central Ohio area and you or anyone that you know needs help with food or other social services, please call Hands On (Firstlink) at: (614) 341-2282

Your food and monetary donations are always welcome! If you would like to contribute directly (other than via links on this lens), you can send a check made out to either South Side Community Ministries or to SSCM and mail it to St. Paul UCC, 225 E. Gates St, Columbus, OH 43206. Please DO NOT make out the check to St. Paul. Doing so will delay your much needed gift to the food pantry.

March 2012 Update: Food Pantry costs are rising for the remainder of 2012 due to overwhelming demand at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Our food cost has gone from a 50% discounted rate at Mid-Ohio to only a 20% discount. Every dollar you can contribute helps defray this unexpected expense.

Our Operation

The SSCM Food Pantry, located at the St. Paul United Church of Christ, is open 9 times per month, generally during the last full week of the month. Those in need of food should call Hands On (formerly Firstlink) at (614) 341-2282. Hands On will schedule you to pick up food during one of our open periods. Our clients are supplied with a three day supply of food through a "Choice" program. With the help of one of our volunteers, clients shop for their own food by selecting items from our shelves, refrigerators and freezers - just like being in a grocery store. The Choice program provides for healthy, nutritious selections in a dignified setting.

The pantry could not exist without it's volunteers! Volunteers come from 6 area churches and the surrounding community. Kneeling in the front left of the photo is SSCM Food Pantry Director, Jeff Grennell. The director, the board and all other volunteers are unpaid.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We need the help of individuals, churches, social organizations, businesses and corporations.

You can help by:

*Making individual donations to SSCM. You can send a check or money order made out to: SSCM Food Pantry, 225 E Gates St, Columbus, OH 43206 or you can make a contribution via PayPal by going to the SSCM website at SSCM Food Pantry and clicking the "Support Our Mission" link (contributions made through PayPal).

*Donating a portion of your lens proceeds to SSCM. 1% would help, 5-10% would go a long, long way!

*Organizing food drives of canned and dry goods to benefit SSCM

*Becoming a volunteer for SSCM and help us by:

>Assisting our clients to shop and make nutritious choices

>Stocking shelves

>Unloading trucks from the Mid-Ohio Food Bank

>Shopping at Mid-Ohio Food Bank for perishable foods

Purchase Great Stuff on Amazon and Help the Food Pantry

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

by: Sara Miles

Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 06/04/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $15.00

From the publisher, Ballantine Books:
"Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist, wandered into a church, received communion, and found herself transformed-embracing a faith she'd once scorned. A lesbian left-wing journalist who'd covered revolutions around the world, Miles didn't discover a religion that was about angels or good behavior or piety; her faith centered on real hunger, real food, and real bodies. Before long, she turned the bread she ate at communion into tons of groceries, piled on the church's altar to be given away. Within a few years, she and the people she served had started nearly a dozen food pantries in the poorest parts of their city.

Take This Bread is rich with real-life Dickensian characters-church ladies, millionaires, schizophrenics, bishops, and thieves-all blown into Miles's life by the relentless force of her newfound calling. Here, in this achingly beautiful, passionate book, is the living communion of Christ."

Release Date: 02/05/2008

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What Money Can Buy...

Here is what your $10.00 contribution typically will buy for the SSCM Food Pantry through the Mid-Ohio Food Bank:

*16 - 8 ounce jars of peanut butter, or

*34 - 15 ounce cans of fruit, or

*209 size medium baby diapers, or

*35 - 6 ounce cans of tuna fish, or

*17 - 18 ounce boxes of breakfast cereal

Your cash donations go a long way!

For More Information:

*Write to Jeff Grennell, SSCM Director or to Craig King, Operations Director, at 225 E. Gates St, Columbus, OH 43206

*Contact Michelle Hagans at St. Paul UCC by calling (614) 444-1311.

*Email SSCM43206@yahoo.com

And, introducing, our new website created in April of 2012: SSCM Food Pantry

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New Guestbook Comments

  • bloomingrose May 22, 2012 @ 9:45 am | delete
    Excellent lens - I really appreciate what you are doing here. Angel Blessed and pinned to my "Doing Good" board and tweeted - hash tag "ohio" so that more people can be helped.
  • MJsConsignments May 22, 2012 @ 12:14 pm | delete
    Thank you so much for your blessing and adding this lens to the "Doing Good" board. It's very much appreciated!
  • josephpowell519 Jan 21, 2012 @ 6:08 am | delete
    Excellent lens and I really enjoy these non-profit lenses. I've given your page a like too.
  • PoeticChristian Jan 21, 2012 @ 1:29 am | delete
    What a great blessing you are doing. I wish you all the best of luck in all you strive to achieve. Helping others really feels good. Keep doing what you are doing. God bless you all.
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"M" is me, Michelle, the primary force behind MJ's Consignments. I'm a long term eBay seller who got my start when I was attempting to purge my home of... more »

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