Phoenix Church to Feed 1,300 Families of Students from 5 School Districts During Winter Break

Nov. 27, 2012 - PRLog -- CCV TO COLLECT BOXED FOOD ITEMS OVER NEXT 2 WEEKENDS
FOR MORE THAN 1,300 FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN IN NEARBY SCHOOL DISTRICTS
IN NEED OF MEAL ASSISTANCE DURING UPCOMING 2-WEEK WINTER BREAK

Boxed Food Items to be Delivered to 21 Selected Schools in 5 School Districts Dec. 17 & 18

(PEORIA, Ariz.) — Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) began collecting specific food items this past weekend from its 18,000-plus members as part of the church’s “Family to Family” community service project to provide meals during the two-week winter break to more than 1,300 families whose children participate in free and reduced-meal plans at schools across the Valley.

“One in four children in Arizona are currently living in poverty, which translates to the fifth-highest rate in the nation,” said Bob Fesmire, CCV’s Lead Neighborhood Pastor. “We believe our ‘Family to Family’ service project will fill a giant need after realizing that children receiving meal assistance at nearby elementary and middle schools may not have a steady source of food during the winter break this December.”

CCV will continue collecting boxes of food through December 16, during weekend services at its campuses in Peoria, Scottsdale and Surprise. The boxes will be filled with shelf-stable foods carefully selected to accommodate children’s nutritional needs. These items include: canned green vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, chicken noodle soup, pinto beans, rice, macaroni and cheese, canned tuna or chicken, mixed fruit, marinara sauce and spaghetti. A comprehensive list can be found online at ccvonline.com/FamilytoFamily.

On Dec. 17 and 18, CCV will deliver the boxes of food to 21 selected elementary and middle schools in the Deer Valley, Dysart, Paradise Valley, Peoria and Scottsdale school districts, which are located most closely to the church’s three campuses. Within these districts, CCV is providing food to every school that has 75 percent or more of their enrollment receiving free or reduced meals. Social workers and intervention specialists at each school have already identified the families that will benefit from CCV’s “Family to Family” church-wide service project.

A community-service project this large in scope is nothing new to CCV. After discovering that there was a need for paper products in Valley schools earlier this year, CCV Neighborhood Group members organized an “Operation: Support Our Schools” program in March to relieve teachers who were purchasing these much needed supplies with their own money. In April, CCV delivered more than 36,000 reams of copy paper, 15,000 boxes of tissue paper and 6,000 packages of wet wipes to 300 public elementary schools in 22 school districts throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.

CCV’s multi-site strategy allows the church to continue to grow its Neighborhood Group concept by connecting with neighbors and serving local communities. All three CCV campuses offer identical services each weekend, with the Scottsdale and Surprise Campuses offering live announcements and music at every service and video messages streamed from the Peoria Campus. The Children’s and Youth Ministries are also identical on all three campuses. With 18,000 people currently attending 12 services at its three campuses each weekend, CCV is the largest non-denominational church in Arizona and one of the largest churches overall in the United States.

— CCVONLINE.COM/FAMILYTOFAMILY —