Wood County Area Ministries (WAM) recently completed what has now become an annual event called
"Feed the 5,000."
This year a dozen or more churches gathered food staples during the Lenten season to help feed hungry
residents. The items were collected at First United Methodist Church from which they were distributed to
local food pantries.
The name for the effort stems from the biblical story from all four gospels of Jesus feeding 5,000 people
from a few loaves and a couple of fish.
"We don’t have to agree about a lot of stuff, but we can agree everyone needs to eat," said
Erin Hachtel, former chairman of WAM, said of the joint churches’ effort.
She has been an active participant for the annual food drive since its inception in 2011.
Food pantries which will receive the more than 4,000 donated items include the Bowling Green Christian
Food Pantry, as well as both St. Aloysius and St. Thomas More parishes.
Food will also be distributed through the pantry associated with Martha’s Kitchen at First United
Methodist Church.
(Editor’s note: A more detailed story of WAM will be published later.)