By Jennifer Johnson
It started slowly.
Seven years ago, Jeff Wedge, a member at Churchill Meadows Christian Church in Ontario, Canada, wanted to recruit a team to deliver food and other necessities to the homeless. He approached CMCC senior minister Jim Tune about developing the outreach as a ministry of the church.
Tune said no.
“Hey, we’re totally supportive of feeding hungry people,” Tune says with a smile. “We encouraged Jeff to start his ministry, but as a church we focus on a few major community projects around the holidays.”
Today “Feed the Street” reaches hundreds of homeless people throughout the city and around the world. Churches of any size can participate, and families and small groups are encouraged to work together by preparing the bags of turkey sandwiches, juice boxes, fruit, water, desserts, and plastic cutlery. Some teams also contribute blankets, sleeping bags, or other gifts.
Wedge and his volunteers launched the ministry as an annual Christmas event, but realized “homelessness is not a seasonal occurrence.” The group now leads four events each year and connects with other Feed the Street groups around the world.
“It’s really an example of the difference just one person can make,” Tune says. “Through word of mouth and the group’s Facebook page, Jeff has spread the idea to Los Angeles, Austin, Baton Rouge, Toronto, and even Australia. It’s an easy but effective outreach, and it’s really caught on.”
Even at Churchill Meadows. This past Christmas church members donated more than 400 meals.
