Page 73 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2022

GIVING BACK
FEED MY SHEEP
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of the Feed My Sheep
Gulfport’s Feed My Sheep will celebrate its fortieth year on January 1 and is stronger than ever. The organization serves 10,000-12,000 meals a month and now gives away on average 10,000 pounds of food each month to soup kitchens in Harrison and Hancock Counties.
“We’re doing this by the grace
of God and by the blessings of a community that helps us,” says Board Chairman Ted Riemann.”We’ve been able to extend the mission that way.”
He says the need is greater now and Feed My Sheep is seeing more people. In the early days it was mainly a service to the homeless, but now meals are also delivered to homebound individuals and others.
“With inflation, rising food costs and post COVID the need is greater. Some who work are under the poverty line.”
This organization continued to serve food during the COVID pandemic. “We reached out to the health department and continued to serve but in a different way,” Riemann said. “We never missed a beat.”
Riemann praised Executive Director David Leon for “doing an outstanding job.”
Although Feed My Sheep has hundreds of volunteers, there’s always a need for cooks, servers and delivery drivers.
When Hurricane Katrina destroyed their facility, Feed My Sheep was
forced to halt operations for a while. In January 2009 their new, state-of- the-art facility was opened with 6,000 square feet of space.
Feed My Sheep
2615 19th St., Gulfport
228.864.2701 www.feedmysheepgulfport.org
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