Morningstar Baptist Church gives back before rebuilding

Morningstar Baptist Church may have been left in ruins by a fire, but it’s serving the community Tuesday morning, giving away food because the need is there and volunteers say they’re not letting the fire stop them.

They’ve received donations to rebuild the church, but not as many towards the food. Yet most of the food comes from the Harry Chapin Food Bank or Midwest Distributors, making it possible to continue donating to families in need.

The coordinator of the food drive, Tony Moxley, says it’s a blessing the building where they store the donated food is still standing.

“I was here that day, and I was really stressed out about it,” Moxley said. “Beyond words. I just couldn’t imagine it, and when we first heard about it we thought this building had got [burned down], too, but it didn’t.”

Since the pandemic hit, Morningstar Baptist Church took on 15 to 20 additional families. They feed between 140 to 160 families a month. The church and its members have faced numerous obstacles, but they’ve proven they will continue to work and feed the community.

“Everybody just stepped up and stepped in and said ‘We’ll do this’ and ‘We’ll do that,'” Moxley said. “It’s just amazing, the people out there.”

This year’s food drive will be a little different: Instead of walking into the building and grabbing food, the volunteers will put the bags in your car. The drive goes from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.