More About Malachi's Storehouse
HISTORY: Twenty years ago, Malachi’s Storehouse at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church was founded to provide groceries for low-income families in North Atlanta. We had a goal to fulfill the biblical quote from Malachi 3:10, that starts with “Bring the whole tithe into the treasury; let there be food in my house.”
MIRACLES: Each week for twenty years, volunteers have gathered food, packed it in bags and joyfully distributed it each Wednesday to those families that came to our door between 3:30 and 5:30 pm. At first, we had a few families, maybe 10 or 15. We have been blessed at every turn, always amazed at the weekly miracle of God’s provision. As Malachi 3:10 continues: “Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
EFFICIENCY: We have grown as an organization and have learned where to find reasonably priced food, garden, conserve our energy, recruit from all ages and be grateful for every successful Wednesday. Our organization is 100% volunteer based!!! We have NO overhead and Ben Franklin would be impressed with how we stretch each dollar. We buy the majority of our groceries from the Atlanta Community Food Bank, where we can buy wonderful groceries for 16 cents/pound. We also buy some items from Aldi, a discount grocery. Gardens in the area (including our own) donate vegetables and local businesses donate bread. Schools and churches in the area also make donations.
HOLIDAY RUSH: Malachi’s Storehouse is strictly an emergency food pantry. In November 2010 we provided food for 2,280 people, almost half of which were children. The number of families often exceeds 125 families per WEEK, approximately 500 individuals. Thanksgiving brought 225 families and at Christmas, our parking lot was filled with 300 families. The Wednesday during the ice storm, while most of us were warm in our houses with food in our refrigerators, 60 families braved the icy roads to come pick up a modest bag of groceries. So many breadwinners from this area have lost their jobs and feel discouraged. Ninety-nine percent of our clients live below the poverty level.
KEEPING UP WITH MALACHI'S: You can now follow us on Facebook. If you would like to volunteer or have questions, please email: Mary Louise Wilson (marylouisew1@aol.com) or Kathy Malcolm Hall (kmalcolmhall@yahoo.com).
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