Good Shepherd, based in Herndon, has sent several mission teams to Concordia College over the years.
Members of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church missions team, Helping Hands, reached out to the Selma community once again, donating $7,000 of food to the local food pantry. Concordia students helped shop, deliver and unload the hundreds of pounds of canned food to Christian Outreach Alliance, an organization that gives hundreds of food bags to the hungry each month.
Good Shepherd, based in Herndon has sent several mission teams to Concordia College over the years. Also on the mission trip was Matthew Dickert. The team also painted buildings on campus during their time in Selma.
Funds used to purchase the food were raised through a congregational fundraiser which was partially matched by Thrivent, a Lutheran financial services organization whose mission is to improve lives, said team member Jean Pacelli.
“We have the joy of partnering with the students of Concordia College Alabama,” said Vicki Peter, of Good Shepherd. “We simply wouldn’t be able to accomplish this without them!”
“This is a life saving service that will help the pantry provide for Selma families in need,” said Peter.
Previously, hungry families were only able to collect from the pantry twice a month due to the small quantity of food on hand, but because of the generous donation from Good Shepherd, families will now be able to collect food three times a month.
“Donations like these are what keep us going,” said Nancy Bennett, Christian Outreach Alliance Food Pantry volunteer. “We are extremely grateful.”