Esther Sotelo, right, and granddaughter Mary

Many activities at First Baptist involve food – from Wednesday suppers to the Love Feast and the Valentine (or “Talent”ine) Banquet to Scoop & Swim and Trunk or Treat. Most of those are bonuses – occasions to celebrate and have a special meal or goodies.

The church’s Food Co-op is different. It’s about necessity, yet those involved celebrate the changes it has meant for their lives.

“Our money is very limited, so we depend on pantries a lot,” says Penny Carson, a co-op member. “The only thing that we buy is milk and sometimes meat. This helps immensely.”

Carson and her husband, Ricky, are both on disability. They live in Section 8 housing, but they do not receive food stamps. They joined the Food Co-op soon after it was formed last November.
Carson says she prefers the Co-op to a food pantry.

“I’m earning the food; I’m working,” she says. “I’m doing something. It’s not that I’m going and getting. I’m functioning and doing something to help.”

Overseen by Carol McEntyre, FBC community minister, the ministry invites qualified Knox County residents to participate in a cooperative that requires commitment and consistency. After paying a $5 membership fee and a bimonthly $3 handling fee, members meet every other Tuesday in Trentham Hall to unload food the church has purchased from Second Harvest Food Bank, apportion it and, after a Co-op meeting that includes a devotional, take it home.

McEntyre and a couple of FBC members made a day trip to Atlanta last fall to observe a food co-op there in action.

“It’s a well-run, well-oiled machine,” says church member Emily Plemmons.

FBC is still assembling its machine, but Co-op members and church volunteers say it is well on the way, with 14 families out of a capacity of 25. Eventually, the plan is for the members to run the Co-op.

“I believe that we are working the kinks out as we go, and it’s going to be fine,” says Carson’s daughter, Ibby, who lives in Powell.

She says that she’s found hundreds of food pantries but no other co-ops in Knox County. The difference is palpable.

“When I started coming here, I only knew one person, but now I have grown a bond with two or three people,” she says.

Plemmons says the Co-op members aren’t the only ones developing close ties. The trip to Atlanta with McEntyre and Becky Hudson proved a great bonding experience.

“I knew them and felt like they were my friends before, but it just seems like we have a stronger bond through the Food Co-op,” says Plemmons.

Interns like Buckner intern Kristen Tekell (who recently returned to Baylor) and UT graduate student Wendy Woodward are helping the Co-op find its way. Woodward says the Co-op is building
not just friendships but also community. Members are getting the tools to feed both their bodies and their spirits.

“Handouts don’t really help if we’re not investing in a relationship,” says Woodward. “You wouldn’t believe the sharing that’s been going on in this group.”

The Food Co-op leadership team invites all First Baptist gardeners to plant an extra row in their garden for the Food Co-op families. First Baptist’s Food Co-op has been meeting since November and
has 14 families involved. Second Harvest Food Bank, who supplies our food, rarely has fresh produce. Research indicates that low-income households tend to eat less nutritious diets than others and on
average, they do not meet federal recommendations for consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. Because of these alarming statistics, we are asking our First Baptist gardners to help provide our Food Co-op participants with fresh produce. Our Food Co-op has been meeting since last November and currently has 14 families participating. Contact Carol McEntyre at cmcentyre@fbcknox.org or 246-4661.

First Baptist Church of Knoxville partnered with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at UT Knoxville and Buckner International to build a house for a family in the Rio Grande Valley. This is the second house FBC has partnered to build in the same colonia.

See updates from the mission trip to the border below.

Mission Trip Photo Album

On March 17, a team of 22 people from First Baptist and 36 students from the  UT Baptist Collegiate Ministry will travel to the Rio Grande Valley on a mission trip. Our partner in the valley is Buckner International. Last year, Buckner opened a holistic Community Transformation Center (CTC) that serves children and families in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The CTC employs social workers who work with families to help them attain affordable housing and gain educational, spiritual, and practical assistance for life’s necessities.
One of our projects will be building a house for Luiz and Gabby Gomez and their two children. The Gomez family has a case manger through the Buckner CTC who is helping this family move toward self-sufficiency. Luiz is training to be an electrician; he will be working alongside our team all week building his house. His wife is also working with the case manger. One of her goals is to learn 90 English words. Our team will be helping her practice English speaking skills. The family currently lives in a trailer with an 8’X8’ bath attached. They are excited about the possibility of having a new home.

We will also have three other teams working in the area: a medical team, a second construction team that will be building simple beds for the Gomez family, and a team that will be doing Vacation Bible School for children and computer classes for adults. You can be involved in the trip by praying for our team and by donating hygiene items, such as: toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, hairbrushes, shampoo, soap, razors, deodorant, and lotions. These items will be distributed to the community through the CTC. Place items in the baskets in the welcome center. For more information, contact Carol McEntyre, at cmcentyre@fbcknox.org or 246-4661.

After a year of planning, the First Baptist Food Co-op is finally underway. The Food Co-op  creates true food security for people by providing food for families in need every two weeks.
Currently, ten families are participating, which is providing food for a total of 46 people with families ranging in size from two to seven individuals.

Co-op participants contribute a $3 handling fee and members unload the truck themselves and divide the food into boxes according to family size. A medium-size family usually receives about $100 worth of food on the retail market. Before and after the arrival and distribution of the food, members join together as a community to offer support, prayer, and encouragement for one another.

The Food Co-op exists not only to meet the participants’ physical needs but to minister to their spiritual needs as well. To learn more, contact Carol McEntyre, Community Minister at 246-4661 or cmcentyre@fbcknox.org.

FISH is a cooperative community food distribution service. It operates Monday – Friday, 52 weeks a year. The first Monday of each month, volunteers work in First Baptist’s pantry from 9a–1p handing out groceries to families. Contact Rusty Philips, 673-0203.

On the First Sunday of Each Month–Peanut Butter Only in 16 to 18 oz. jars. 

Please bring peanut butter  on the first Sunday of each month to help reduce the budget expenditure for the FISH pantry. Thank you for helping!

Women on Mission (WOM)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
10:00 AM ~ Room 302

Our mission is to inform and inspire the Christian woman to influence her world for Christ. Join us the first Tuesday of each month as we discover ways to be on the lookout for God at work. WOM  is for women of all ages. Tuesday, November 2 our guest speaker will be Cathie Ragsdale from The Next Door. Our offering will help provide a Christmas lunch for the women’s Bible Study at Western Heights. After lunch, Frances Casey will help us make Christmas tree necklaces.

Thanks to all those who supplied and served lunch at the UT Baptist Collegiate Ministry “Soul Food Café” on October 25. This past summer, over 90 students served as TBC Collegiate Summer Missionaries in areas of need throughout the United States and in several foreign countries, enabled by the profits received through the cafe’s Monday lunches.