1997 --- How we started
The "Feeding the 5,000 Families" food drive began in 1997 as an
interfaith effort to raise enough food for 5,000 families. The drive
was born as part of a program called “Walk with Jesus” at the First
United Methodist Church in Pocatello, Idaho. The goal of the program
was to teach children about the ministry of Jesus by discussing
occurrences in his life and incorporating a mission or service project.
When the story of Jesus Feeding the 5,000 came up they planned to
gather 5,000 cans of food. However, it seemed like such a monumental
undertaking, they decided to recruit the help of other churches.
The
reaction from other churches was amazing. At the first meeting,
representatives from 7 different churches attended and one of the
attendees helped them gain access to the LDS cannery. Shortly
thereafter the goal was raised from 5,000 cans to 25, 000 cans to
reflect the fact that Bible scholars say that only men were counted in
the multitude. In reality there would have been families with them. Roy
Lacey, Idaho Foodbank Director, stated that 25,000 cans would be
required to feed 5,000 families. That is when the name of the drive was
changed to "Feeding the 5,000 Families."
The drive surpassed
their goal of 25,000 cans that first year and raised 30,000. It was the
United Methodist Church, who thought they could not raise 5,000 cans
alone, that ended up raising extra 5,000 cans!
Over the
years, the number of events and community involvement has steadily
increased. In the second year of the drive, they started collecting
items at grocery stores in teams of people made up of different
congregations. In the third year, the drive expanded to include a
“Feeding the 5,000 Families Community of Faith Concert” featuring
musical talents from local churches. In the ninth year of the drive the
interfaith progressive dinner began, in which people walked from church
to church eating part of a meal (and receiving a message about giving)
at each location. Last year the First Presbyterian Church started a
prayer vigil. You can sign up for a time slot and together we will pray
to end hunger in the world.
"Feeding the 5,000 Families" has
become the largest food drive of its kind in the history of the Idaho
Foodbank. It is also believed to be the longest running interfaith food
drive of its kind in the United States. Over the years, the drive has
collected over 1 million pounds of food! This year, the goal is to
raise 220,000 pounds in order to start on the next million.
"Feeding
the 5000 Families" takes its name and its spirit from the Gospel of
John. The gospel relates a story in which Jesus miraculously feeds a
multitude of 5000 families with only two fish and two loaves of bread
which were given him by a small boy who was generous enough to share
all that he had. Feeding the 5,000 continues to rely on the generosity
of people of faith.
Inspiration
It has been
widely reported that Feeding the 5,000 started as a Sunday School
program. However, the beginning was when God gave me the inspiration to
start the Sunday School program.
And right beside me was my good friend Karen McCall.
After
months of doing reenactments that mirrored parts of Jesus life and
accompanying them each with a service project, it was time to do Jesus
Feeding the 5,000. Our first thought was to gather 5,000 cans of food,
but that seemed too much for us, so we decided to invite other churches
to be a part of it. 7 different denominations attended the first
meeting.
At our first meeting Hal Call (LDS)was
inspired to suggest that we might be able to get into the LDS Cannery.
We were blessed by not only the food that was produced there but by the
relationships that developed among the denominations
At our second meeting Peter Moore (United Methodist), was inspired to invite Roy Lacey from the Idaho Foodbank to our meeting. I had no idea why.
Through
conversation at that meeting about how Jesus didn’t just feed 5,000,
men, but their families too, we raised the goal from 5,000 to 25,000
and Changed the official name of the drive to Feeding the 5,000 Families.