By Mike Hazlip—
Sunrise Christian Food Ministry said in an update last month that the organization served 7,947 households since March 2020.
The ministry saw a significant increase in demand over the past two years, with over 5,000 households served being new guests that had never visited a Sacramento Food Bank partner agency before the pandemic.
Amid shelter-in-place orders, the ministry was identified as an essential agency and continued to distribute food by adapting to a “drive-thru” model at Advent Lutheran Church on San Juan Avenue. The organization said the switch to a drive-thru distribution model “made it possible for us to serve more families than we ever knew was possible.”
Additionally, the organization handed out over 4,000 holiday distributions of Thanksgiving food boxes. The meals included a turkey and gift certificates for groceries.
In its Winter 2022 update, Sunrise Christian Food Ministry thanked volunteers who worked an average of 16 hours each month, some giving over 40 hours in a month.
Improvements to its facility also helped make the effort possible, the ministry said, noting construction of an outdoor storage area with a metal covering was completed in June 2021.
“The timing couldn’t have been better as we saw an increase in donations and need heading into the summer,” the ministry said.
Sunrise Christian Food Ministry was founded in 1983 as an ecumenical effort supported by several dozen churches, organizations and individuals. According to the organization’s website, the ministry’s mission is “to provide five days of nutritionally balanced food supplies to each person every 30 days when an emergency occurs.”
The ministry is headquartered at Advent Lutheran Church, located at 5901 San Juan Ave. Additional information can be found at sunrisechristianfoodministry.org, where online donations can also be made.
