Churches Work Together To Stock Murrieta Food Pantry

Murrieta CA

25 October, 2021

6:24 PM

Description

MURRIETA, CA — A food drive last month in Murrieta collected enough donations to stock the Murrieta United Methodist Church pantry through Christmas, it was announced Monday. On Sept. 25, approximately 200 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Murrieta gathered to collect food donations from around the community. The donations had come after Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth program members used their weekly activity night to distribute plastic bags to homes in various neighborhoods throughout the city. The households were invited to bag any donations and leave them on their front porches or bring them directly to the nearest church building. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members met at the Las Brisas Road, Sky Canyon Drive, and Washington Avenue chapels to coordinate the pickup of all the filled bags. The church members loaded the donations into their vehicles and drove them to the Murrieta United Methodist Church food pantry on Adams Avenue. The Methodist and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members worked side by side to sort the donations and ready them for those in need. Prior to last month's event, the pantry — which serves hundreds of families and individuals in the community each week — reported having enough food to last two to three weeks, according to an announcement from Morgan Vincent, Murrieta Stake Communication Council/Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. After the drive was over, the pantry estimated it had enough food to last through Christmas and maybe even enough to share with another local pantry, Vincent said. "It was amazing to witness our community coming together to serve one another," said Shannon Peterson, local service committee leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "My faith was strengthened in humanity as a whole as people gave bags of canned goods to strangers, and also as they worked side by side with other faiths in our community. Witnessing miracles take place was incredible."