Community Corner
Faith Covenant Church Focuses on Food and Fellowship
Burnsville's Faith Covenant Church serves up to 500 families every month in its Faith Food Outreach
Volunteers from Burnsville's Faith Covenant Church were once again focused on food and fellowship at their monthly outreach on Monday evening.
Held on the second Monday of every month, the Faith Food Outreach collaborates with the Minnesota branch of Second Harvest Heartland to provide food and household goods to low-income families in Dakota County.
While Faith Covenant can never be sure what products will arrive on the Heartland delivery truck, the one guarantee is that everyone is welcome.
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"We do it because there is a need among low-income families in the area. It's that simple," operations coordinator Becky Sigl explained. "Our clients don't need to prove their income or their citizenship or their hardship. If they show up, they get whatever we have."
Faith Covenant has run its food outreach program since 2007 and has become increasingly popular among families throughout Dakota County.
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"We usually provide food and household goods to between 300 and 500 families on any given Monday," Sigl said. "We're a non-denominational church which means everyone is welcome here."
It is no secret that providing outreach to that many people requires tremendous resources—including volunteers to organize and run the operation.
"We usually have between 80-100 volunteers every month," volunteer coordinator Sue Wallerick explained. "Each volunteer works a three- or four-hour shift between set up, operation and tear down."
According to Wallerick, Burnsville High School even has a student who coordinates volunteers to participate every month. "We have three high school students here tonight," she said.
And while the community is clearly invested in the Faith Food Outreach, the combination of more clients and larger deliveries is putting a strain on the the volunteer corps.
"We always need more volunteers," Wallerick said. "We never know when we'll be short. In fact, we were really short on Valentine's Day this year."
Faith Covenant also accepts new or gently used children's books or stuffed animals. Donations of these items can be provided on the Sunday or Monday prior to the Faith Food Outreach.
To get involved in the Faith Food Outreach email Sue Wallerick directly.
