Michael and Wanda Fox currently lead the Bishop's Storehouse in Fountain Valley as missionaries for Huntington Beach Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints. They recently hosted local city, religious and non-profit leaders for a tour of the facility and an overview of how the church takes care of its own.
President Richardson provided an overview of how we take care of our own through Fasting and Fast Offerings (the first Sunday of each month we fast for 2 meals and are asked to make a "generous" fast offering. These fast offerings fund the church's ability to produce food and other goods for those in need).
He also extended an invitation: "Since the founding of the church we have taken care of our own. We want to open our doors to the community. We try to follow the Savior's commandment to love our neighbors and want to share what we have with you."
The tour was organized by Jynene Johnson who is a member of the HB interfaith council. Attendees included leaders from local Catholic and Evangelical churches, a city council member, former mayors and non-profit leaders including:
Robin's Nest who provides support for at-risk teens and families
Moving Forward - to date has provided over 85,000 meals to Orange County families in need
The tour included an overview of the support available to members of the church with an invitation to the community leaders to take advantage of what we have to offer. The services reviewed include:
Church food from farm to production to the Bishop's Storehouse
Supporting local non-profits and the city of Huntington Beach with food:
Recently delivered $40,000 of food for local pantries and non-profits
75 boxes of food for the city of Huntington Beach's Navigations program
We are providing the ingredients that Moving Forward will use to cook and provide meals for the needy in our area
Family Services
Counseling
Strengthening marriage
Strengthening the family
Addiction recovery
Abuse helpline
Emergency psychosocial services
Missionary support
Self-improvement Programs
Personal finance
Emotional resilience
Find a better job
English as a second language
Start a business
Education/tutoring
Life skills
Perpetual education
It's not a stretch to say those attending were blown away with questions at the end of the presentation like "how is your church so organized to be able to do this?". This gave Sister Johnson a chance to explain how, from the beginning of the church, members have been told to organize and prepare in order to provide for our own and other's needs.
The take away from the visit is that we are going to have an opportunity to do a lot of good with the food available from Salt Lake as well as our volunteer efforts here.