In two upcoming events, Memorial Park Church in McCandless hopes to pack 250,000 meals for local distribution, requesting aid from the public for the second event.
Memorial Park, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church with about 1,000 members, is a “mission-based” congregation, according to its communications director, Greg Hollack.
The upcoming events, one in late March where churchgoers will pack the first 100,000 meals and another in May for the public to help pack the rest, are not the church’s first charity events. But Hollack said they have never tried anything on this scale.
Memorial Park, he said, will partner with the Florida-based nonprofit Meals of Hope, which will provide food and organizational aid.
For the May event, he said the church is not looking for money or food donations, only for volunteers to give their time to help package the thousands of meals. These packages will be picked up and distributed by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
“It’s a great opportunity to offer our services to the community,” Hollack said.
Though the church’s pastor for missions and outreach, Paul Housman, is headed to Rwanda and Sierra Leone this spring to render international aid, he said the congregation also noticed a need at home.
The March event is designed as a sort of test run staffed by church regulars, but Housman said neighbors of different denominations or religions and those religiously unaffiliated are welcome to help in May.
“This is something we can do that’s tangible, that’s practical for our neighbors in need,” Housman said.
The initial church event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 30. The public event will follow it on May 18.
