FBC Griffin supports a variety of ministries that serve the Griffin community. In the February 5th Mission Council meeting, these ministries reported on their work from the fourth quarter of 2023. Here’s a brief summary of what your tithes and offerings contribute to the Griffin community.
Abundant Life Soup Kitchen: This ministry provides hot meals Monday through Thursday from noon to about 12:45pm and boxed sandwiches on Fridays for approximately 80 to 120 people daily. The numbers of individuals being served are increasing.
Benevolence: The Benevolence Ministry is located in the Ministry Center on Poplar Street. Each Monday morning, they serve the public between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. by providing assistance with clothing, food vouchers, prescription vouchers, ID counseling, and referral to social services in the area. During the fourth quarter, they gave out approximately 100 food vouchers (Thanksgiving and Christmas). They served 324 households, accounting for 841 individuals.
Caregivers Clothes Closet: This ministry assisted 176 individuals between October and December of 2023.
Christmas Toy Shop: The 2023 Toy Shop served 84 families with a total of 234 children. Volunteers from FBC worked from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on December 11th to serve these families.
Community Engagement: Seth Brown attended a meeting held by local law enforcement agents discussing the prevalence of gangs in the Griffin area and the need for prayers and wisdom in reaching young people.
Community Garden: The fall garden was a success. We delivered dozens of bags of broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts to Abundant Life Soup Kitchen.
Five Loaves and Two Fish Food Pantry: The number of clients served continues to increase. We are blessed to have three new members from FBC volunteering to work.
Grace 127: DFACS reached out to request help for a teenage girl entering the foster system, and we were able to provide socks and underwear for her. We provided specialized bags for 7 children who left the foster system in November to be adopted. Finally, we fulfilled 21 requests from the Christmas Toy Shop trees (as some children represented in the Toy Shop clients may have been foster children).
Levite Team: The Levite Team worked 32 hours (creating steps for a church member and replacing door knobs) between October and December.
LifeSong Ministry: A new session begins on February 26th.
Spalding Samaritans: Currently five FBC members serve on intake days. During the 4th quarter, Spalding Samaritans was able to assist 107 families with $12,715.25 in utility assistance. For 2023, we assisted 436 families (an increase of 46% over 2022) with $61,104.66 in utility assistance—an average of $140.15 per family (a decrease of 35% from 2022). We are heavily reliant on quarterly funding we receive from the FBC Benevolence Ministry, but we also rely on gifts from individuals and small groups.