Caring for our community

Middleton Friends Meeting involvement with local charities 

Middleton Friends Meeting donates money to two local charities monthly, the 4C's and the local Way Station. Two meeting members volunteer to help with the 4C's Food Pantry.  The 4C's stands for Crestview Churches Community Concerns. It is managed and supported by churches in the Crestview Local School district. A total of 5 churches are involved. Those include Middleton Friends, East Fairfield Methodist, New Waterford Methodist, New Waterford Zion Lutheran, and Abundant Life Fellowship. Each church appoints two representatives to serve on the board that makes decisions and manage the funds.

    Currently Mary Alice Pino and Rebecca Hawkins represent our Meeting on the board and as volunteers in the pantry. That sometimes includes going up to the Youngstown 2nd Harvest distribution warehouse food bank to pick up pallets of food items. It may involve the stocking of shelves and cleaning the pantry or helping on distribution day, which is the first 4th day(Weds) of each month. People who come for food are not asked to disclose their income, however they need to register. The pantry is required to keep track of how many people come through each month and the ages of all in their household. Usually there are between 100 to 130 people served. Anyone in the school district or attending one of the above churches in the district can pick up food.

     There are two reasons people seem to prefer our pantry. One is because it is a "choice pantry." They can pick out items they specifically want. Other pantries may just give bags or boxes pre-filled with groceries. Some of those items people may not like or use. Consequently those unused items may be thrown away/ wasted. Another reason some people prefer to come to our pantry is that we have a good supply of personal health and cleaning supplies. Soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, TP, laundry detergent, disinfectant, etc. are available for those who need them.

    We accept monetary donations as well as food donations. Various area individuals and companies have donated as well as area food drives. We have even had a whole beef cow from the fair auction donated.

   

 "If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall you light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday."--Isaiah 58:10