Dallas-area Baptists help with food bank’s Full on Faith initiative

DALLAS—When Texas Baptists joined more than 30 other faith-based groups in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the fight against hunger, the results were "outstanding and inspirational," said Karla Dechavez, development coordinator at the North Texas Food Bank.

Volunteers from First Baptist Church in Waxahachie, South Garland Baptist Church in Garland, Central Baptist Church in Italy and First Baptist Church in Dallas—as well as Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff members—sorted and boxed food at the food bank as part of Full on Faith, a weeklong campaign geared to focus local faith-based organizations on the critical issue of hunger and immediate needs across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The North Texas Food Bank holds the event annually.

"A lot of people are really not aware of how bad it is," Dechavez said. "When they come into the food bank to volunteer and they see the actual food and they actually handle the food, then they're able to see what kinds of meals we prepare for our member agencies, as well as the need—like how many different families these meals are going to."

Full on Faith volunteers worked in three-hour time slots unloading pallets of food, sorting and packing boxes for distribution throughout 13 counties served by the food bank. During the week, more than 800 volunteers boxed and sorted 182,713 meals for Texas children, families and seniors.

Linda Wear coordinates Daily Bread, a ministry of the BGCT Advocacy/ Care Center that seeks to connect churches with hunger-relief resources, and led efforts to promote and organize Full on Faith among Texas Baptists regionally. Churches can get involved in an ongoing way by partnering with one of the 307 agencies the food bank supplies, she noted.

"We do it as churches together. We do it through organizations together. We don't have to do this all independently of each other," she said.

Dee Boyd, general ledger manager at the Baptist Building, echoed Wear's sentiment about cooperation and teamwork. Boyd served one shift with Full on Faith, calling it a wonderful experience.

"Anytime you go out and serve together, … it helps you to realize we're all in this together. It helps us to see that what we do does matter," she said.

She particularly noted the benefits of working alongside people from other faith-basedgroups—including non-Christians. "It was a time when we could not only serve together, but we could speak with some other people about our faith," she said.