It's not just about food for Faith Hope and Love Community in Indianapolis. FHL is one of the food partners that receive food, without cost, from Midwest Food Bank Indiana. Yes, they distribute food through 10 different pantries. but they also want to create a path of self-sufficiency for the people they meet and serve.
Here's how that happened for Mr. Charles. He was first offered a ride to a Faith, Hope and Love food pantry. He is a senior citizen that received not only a bag of food but also prayers. Mr. Charles has enrolled in a technical school to have a better job in the future. He also began volunteering at FHL.
"The next time he came, he shared with us that the prayers inspired him and that people had started to come out of the woodwork to help him," says Merlin Gonsales, CEO and Founder of FHL. Beyond the food and prayers, FHL trains its volunteers to connect people with job training, financial education, family counseling, and other areas that help them toward self-sufficiency.
"Midwest Food Bank provides us food for the pantries, which are gateways to the community," says Merlin. "They have inspired us with their Christian values and systems."
Currently, FHL serves ten different pantries and, in 2021, served over 2,250 people each month. They use ten volunteers at their main office that mobilize about 200 volunteers through churches and other organizations.
"I receive personal satisfaction that we are helping people both physically and spiritually," says Merlin. "When I see people receiving Jesus Christ or even people being baptized at a food pantry, I feel blessed that we are making a difference beyond just the physical."
Nonprofit partners like FHL are on the frontlines in the fight against food insecurity. They are part of our mission to "share the love of Christ."