The Manna Bag

The Manna Bag (Emergency Food) is an unfunded churchwide volunteer and community preparation program under the leadership of the United Methodist Men’s Group. These bags contain water, Vienna sausages, and a fruit cup (or a fruit bar) and crackers. 

They are available to the public during office hours at the front desk to carry in your vehicle to assist those that may pull “your heart strings” as you pass them by. They have also been distributed to U of M students during final exam preparation. 

We are always accepting either food or monetary donations! You may stop by the front desk and drop your donations off. Any help is greatly appreciated! 

Memphis and Shelby County has one of the highest per capita hunger rates in the United States. At St. Luke’s we take seriously the call to feed the hungry. We house one of the largest food pantries in the city sponsored by local churches, and provides meals through Saturday Suppers and Sunday Morning Breakfasts.

Saturday Supper: The Saturday Supper teams consist of groups of people, who as individuals might not be able to impact the hunger problem. However, in small groups, they can provide hungry people in the St. Luke’s community an opportunity for a free meal on Saturday evenings. Volunteers for this ministry become part of rotational teams that are responsible for preparing an evening meal consisting of a snack, meat, two vegetables, and a dessert. The snack is served at 4:00 p.m. The main meal follows at 4:30 p.m. There is no minimum or maximum time required to commit for this mission. To volunteer on a Team or for more information, contact Mary Frances Hall, mclllcmom@hotmail.com or 278-0275.

Community Breakfast: As part of our hunger ministry, the Sunday Community Breakfast is a free meal, open to the community. Volunteers arrive on Sunday mornings at 7:00 a.m. to assist in cooking and serving the meal, as well as cleaning up. Breakfast is served at 8:00 a.m. and team members are usually finished by 9:00 a.m. There are three ways to be involved in this ministry: 1 – Serve on a team that cooks one time every other month, (six times a year); 2 – Simply let us know if there is a Sunday when you would like to help; we will gladly plug you in; and 3 – Be on call for Sundays that find us low on help. To volunteer or for more information, contact David and Denise Hensley, thehensleys421@gmail.com or 901.212.3085 and 901.517.8400.

Memphis and Shelby County have one of the highest per capita hunger rates in the United States.  At St. Luke’s we take seriously the call to feed the hungry.  We house a food pantry sponsored by several local churches, and provide meals through Saturday Suppers and Sunday Morning Breakfasts.

Food Pantry: The University Cluster Food Pantry is located at St. Luke’s and is sponsored by six churches, representing four denominations. It provides a four-day supply of food to each person in a family, serving an average of 100 families per month. The food pantry is open the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month from 9:30 until 12:00 noon. We serve mainly the residents of the nearby zip codes of 38111, 38114, and 38117, but accept all in need who come.

Ten to twelve volunteers work on Tuesdays and Thursdays to stock shelves and fill sacks. Our sponsor churches contribute food, money and volunteers for the pantry. Monetary donations are used to purchase food at the Mid-South Food Bank and local stores.

To volunteer or for more information, contact Carolyn Galloway, carolyn.galloway@att.net