Hunger Offering funds “bridge the gap” to help provide groceries for Temple families

Three years ago, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor administration retiree Paula Tanner joined the Churches Touching Lives for Christ (CTLC) staff, an organization that she previously served along with her church.

“My church was involved with CTLC, and I would go by there a couple times a year to drop off items, and I just knew that after retirement, that was the place I wanted to go. So I started out working with our clothing ministry, and then about a year ago, I was asked to take the executive director's position,” said Tanner. 

CTLC was founded in Temple, Texas, in 1994 by a coalition of churches with a mission to assist people from low-income situations who were experiencing hunger and help them get back on their feet and be able to move forward into a more self-sufficient position. CTLC started with serving 50 to 100 families a month, and that number has increased over time “as the size of our city has grown, and as more and more needs become evident.” 

CTLC has two areas of ministry: clothing and food. The ministry partners with the local Salvation Army and Feed My Sheep, a ministry to the homeless community, to support those who have taken steps to find a job and affordable housing. When the Salvation Army and Feed My Sheep are helping to move families into a house or apartment, they contact CTLC to obtain towels, linens, cookware and dishes. From there, those families are given the option to sign up to receive groceries once a month. 

Tom Henderson, president of the Board of Directors for CTLC, was among the original group of churches and “was well aware of various forms of funding that were offered by Texas Baptists,” so he encouraged the ministry staff to apply. 

The ministry has been receiving funds from the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering for 28 years, making it a “legacy ministry” of the Hunger Offering, which is celebrating its 30th year of giving.

Tanner said the Hunger Offering funds help “bridge the gap” between the amount of food donated and what is needed to serve each client. 

“We receive a lot of our food through the Central Texas Food Bank and also surplus food from vendors in the Temple community, who send up their produce and baked goods… But there is always a gap of some sort between the amount of food that we can collect from those two sources and the amount we need,” said Tanner. “[The Hunger Offering] helps us bridge the gap between what is given from our other sources and what we need to be able to hand out food to our clients.” 

Seeing the power of God’s love at work 

Tanner said as clients come through, volunteers are reminded of the mission and that this may be “the only contact they have with someone who is a Christian, and we really want them to be the face of Christ to these people.” 

Since navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, their ministry has shifted to serving their clients outdoors, “so everybody stays in their cars now and comes through the line.” Intake volunteers go down the line of cars to welcome people and ask them how they can serve them: through providing clothing or food, or both. Volunteers then ask if “they’d like to have a word of prayer together” and "simply show them kindness and love and respect in their situations.” 

Tanner said her favorite part of serving as the executive director of CTLC is seeing clients come back to serve as volunteers after being touched by the ministry. 

“Working at the food pantry has opened my eyes a lot more to the situations of many of our lower-income families in our city. I particularly have gotten close with some volunteers who came initially as clients and then stayed and work at the pantry now to help others,” said Tanner. “It is so heartening to see how the Christian faith that they have has grown during that time, and that it has led them to help others with their needs.” 

Recently, CTLC volunteer Tim Simmons served a young mom at the ministry’s weekly clothes distribution day after she heard that CTLC could provide her with diapers and clothing for her baby. Simmons told her about the food pantry where she could come once a month and get groceries. 

“She was very excited, and the next Saturday she showed up early with her baby to sign up and get food,” Tanner wrote in a recent report to the Hunger Offering. 

An hour later, Simmons saw the power of God’s love at work when the young mom returned an hour later with three of her friends, also young moms. All four women now regularly return to the food pantry for groceries.  

"The smiles on the moms' faces is truly a good memory. These women continue to come to CTLC for groceries each month, and it is connections like these that make me feel good to be serving at CTLC," said Simmons. 

“When we share the love of God with a person who lives without much love in their lives, it can be so exciting that the person can't help but share the good news with others. Thanks be to God!” Tanner wrote. 

Addressing hunger one family at a time  

CTLC currently serves over 2,000 families each month at their food pantry, and Tanner predicts the numbers are going to “continue to climb” and so will food prices, making it challenging to “obtain the food that is needed” for the same amount of money.

Tanner said this is why monetary gifts from the Hunger Offering are so valuable to CTLC’s ministry. 

“I think most people are aware that there are problems of hunger throughout the United States, and it seems like such a big problem, and people become overwhelmed and they feel like, ‘What can I do to solve this?’ But by giving to the Texas [Baptist] Hunger [Offering]... they are making a real difference right at the point where it's needed,” said Tanner. “Their gifts help us, one family at a time, to address the issue of hunger and try to help folks get on their feet so that that will not continue to be a problem for their family.” 

Tanner said monetary gifts to the Hunger Offering help CTLC to afford to offer each family “a nutritionally balanced basket of food” once a month. 

Each Mother's Day, churches are able to honor moms by ending hunger. Churches across the state will take up a special offering during worship to alleviate hunger for individuals and families. Join in the fight against hunger today by giving a gift at hungeroffering.org/mothers-day.