Unite! is an organization whose heart is for churches to join together to serve our communities in such a way that God would transform our city for His Glory. We also recognize that by partnering with churches, schools and local community organizations, we can make an even greater impact in the communities that we serve. We know that there are many food pantries in Cobb County and although they receive tons of food and assistance during the holidays, they find themselves struggling to meet the needs of their clients soon thereafter. With this in mind, the team at Unite! Cobb is inviting the whole community to partner with us to stock the pantries for 2013. The goal is to collect 1 nonperishable food item for each Cobb County resident.

That’s about 700,000 cans! That’s a HUGE goal and we know that we cannot do this without YOU! Whether you are a church, school, local organization, business, food pantry, or individual, we would like you to be involved!

Information is available on the Unite website at www.uniteus.org/pages/regions/ cobb or contact coordinator Kristin Hemingway at 678-561- 5340 or at CobbCanKristin@gmail.com. Current churches that will be collecting are Cumberland Community Church, McEachern United Methodist, Mt. Paran North, Johnson Ferry Baptist and Orange Hill Baptist.

The prime collection dates will be January 25 – 27, but there will be other opportunities to give throughout January. The drive will set up collection points at Cumberland Community Church, McEachern United Methodist Church, Mt. Paran North, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and Orange Hill Baptist Church. Through Alive Ministries Save it Forward Program many schools are already participating in the 100 days of school food drive – January 25 is the 100th day! Rhonda Smith from Alive Ministries has been working with Unite churches on planning and has been coordinating drives with schools for several years. To learn more about Alive Ministries go to www.aliveministriesinc.org. Rhonda will coordinate pickups at schools and organizations that want to provide for children through local school pantries.

All Cobb Food Banks will receive a portion of the donated canned food. Those currently involved are Alive Ministries, Storehouse Ministries of Noonday Baptist Association, Family Life Restoration Center, Must Ministries, Shepherd’s House, Feed the Hungry Foundation, Lighthouse Community Ministries, Acworth Emergency Food Pantry and Cobb County Salvation Army.

Lin Harrison, associate pastor of Orange Hill Baptist Church said it well, “We can do more together than we can do alone. When churches lock arms, even across denominational lines, it is a wonderful witness to the community and we come together to do what it takes to make the community  stronger.”

Won’t you join us? Cobb Can Unite to Feed Kids in Need!

(Reprinted from the January 2013 issue of EAST COBBER. Written by Lisa Joyner, Outreach Coordinator, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. Read the entire January issue HERE.)