Reaching out to local communities looks different from church to church. Pine Hills Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, reaches out to their community through an initiative called Love in Action. They desire to be a healthy church that transforms the community around them, putting Jesus’ words into action, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That desire is at the heart of their Christmas food drive and distribution to families in three schools.
Since Pine Hills is situated on the northeast side of Fort Wayne, they have reached out to Abbett Elementary for a partnership through Associated Churches (Rising Stars), but, they have drawn a wide circle in defining their community. Along with Pine Hills City Church, a church they planted in 2016 on the south side of Fort Wayne, they have also partnered with Lutheran South Unity School and an additional Fort Wayne public schools, Harrison Hills Elementary. In 2014, the church asked the administration of the elementary schools if they could provide food for school families over the Christmas holiday.
The project began early in December by asking those gathered on Sunday morning to drive to local Walmart or Aldi Foods to purchase supplies. At those locations, shoppers were given a list of items to buy and leave with a truck in the store parking lot. Then, the truck brought the food back to the church where it was organized and packed.
The food distribution involved 1000 people in both churches and supplied 465 families in the three elementary schools with a box of food, a turkey, a ham, and a bag of potatoes. Steve Shaffer, executive pastor at Pine Hills Church believes that “healthy schools can transform communities.”
