United Methodist Men

Mike Smith makes a difference

· Church Renewal, Ministry with the Poor, Global Health

 

  Virginia residents glean egg plants for local food kitchens.

Mike Smith makes a difference

By Charlie Overton

“The best kept secret of the UMC”—that’s how Mike Smith describes The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA).

A former president of the Holston Conference of UM Men, Smith says he had never heard of SoSA until he attended the 2008 National Gathering of UM Men where Wade Mays, national Meals for Millions coordinator, showed a video of sweet potatoes being dumped into a landfill.

“I think about all that God provides,” said Smith. “We waste so much.”

Since discovering SoSA, Mike has been an enthusiastic advocate in Tennessee. Between organizing crop drops at his home congregation, Concord UMC, and gleaning projects in the greater Knoxville area, he has helped save . . . well . . . tons of food.

In 2010, he helped organize his first crop drop of what he thought would be potatoes, but the produce changed several times until finally a truck filled with watermelons arrived.

“Sometimes you just have to roll with it,” he said.

Since that first drop, Mike has organized seven crop drops of everything from sweet potatoes to yogurt.

One of the top-ranked agricultural programs in the U.S, the University of Tennessee, operates farms that enable future farmers to explore new techniques and technologies. For two years, Mike and volunteers from the Knoxville area have gleaned UT farms to provide fresh produce for several area agencies.

“Knoxville is the 26th hungriest metro area in the country,” he notes. “That means there is a lot left to do. This isn’t hard work, and I always get so much more than I give.”

UM Men has officially worked with Society of St. Andrew in the “Meals for Millions” ministry since 1998.

            Charlie Overton has been the program coordinator for the Society of St. Andrew ministry in Tennessee, and now represents SoSA in Kansas.          

 

Meals for Millions

 

In 1998, the Society of St. Andrew joined with the General Commission on UM Men and the National Association of Conference Presidents to establish the Hunger Relief Advocate (HRA) Initiative. Operating under the title of Meals for Millions, this joint effort is designed to help churches engage in ministry to and with the poor and hungry.

 

Meals for Millions funds the national effort to establish HRA advocates in every annual conference and volunteer advocates in UM Men units at every level.

 

An individuals may contribute to the effort by becoming a “challenge disciple” who commits to a $25 twice-a-year contribution or by becoming a HRA sponsor who donates $50 twice each year. Register at http://endhunger.org/umm-individuals/

 

UM Men organizations may become “challenge fellowships” which donate $200 a year to Meals for Millions, and amount that provides 10,000 servings of fresh food.

 

 

Hunger relief advocates are charged with:

  • Establishing and administering gleaning networks to provide food directly to those in need.

  • Raising awareness of the extent of hunger in America and developing anti-hunger programs.

  • Encouraging UM Men to participate in Meals for Millions.

  • Serving as an education and action resource for the church on hunger-relief and poverty issues.

 

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