New Day Arlington

BY: BETH HENKEL, Video Productions Specialist

Reading the statistics can come as a shock. One in seven Texans experience hunger and food insecurity. Among children, that number is even more troubling. And now to help children in Arlington who are experiencing hunger, FUMCA is joining forces with Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. "Childhood hunger is definitely a hidden problem." explains Rev. Molly Hayes, lead pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd. "It’s one of those things that we don’t always think about, but it’s always pervasive. I think one of the last statistics say 1 in 4 kids in America experiences food insecurity, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from."

Church of the Good Shepherd recently became one of the sites collecting and packing food for New Day, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing hungry students with food for the weekends. New Day serves more than 1000 AISD students from 49 of the district’s 79 schools.

The problem of childhood hunger is even worse during the pandemic, because it has created more food insecurity in the adult populations. New

statistics indicate that over the last year, one in 6 adults also experience hunger. Rev. Hayes says this makes hunger spread through whole families. “Historically, when children are hungry, adults give up their meals so the children will have the food that they need. But now that we have a situation where both adults and students are hungry, that means even less for the students to have what they need to be able to thrive and we know God created them to do so."

About 230 bags a week come from the New Day pantry at Church of the Good Shepherd, and each one costs about $4.50 to fill. Packing happens Mondays through Thursdays with deliveries to schools on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Rev. Molly Hayes says there are a variety of things you can do to support New Day. “There are so many ways to help New Day. If you want to give of your time, you can help us by packing bags, you can help us by shopping at Sam’s. You can help us by delivering bags. You can help us by coordinating volunteers."

"We put our faith into action when we do things like this. Because it means we realize, if even for a moment, that it’s not all about us. And there are many things in the world where we are called to be and so we get to do that in this new ministry and I’m excited to see all that God does in it and through it."

Even if you can’t be an in-person participant, there is still a very important role to play. "You can especially pray that the students who get these bags might know there are people in this world that deeply care about them and that God deeply, deeply cares about them."

How you can help:

The next time you are at the grocery store, please pick up an item or two from the list, or organize a food drive. All donated food must be individually packaged. Please no peanuts or peanut butter products.

Vienna sausage, 100% juice boxes,Fruit cups - applesauce, peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, etc., Single serve meat products, Cheese crackers (no peanut butter), Protein bars, Granola bar/breakfast bars, Mac and cheese bowl or pouch, Plasticware & napkins, Monetary donations

Donate:

newdayarlington.org/donate or PO Box 171722 Arlington, TX 76003

Learn more:

newdayarlington.org Contact Pastor Molly at molly@cogsumc.org