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Applauds those in community who help each other

By Staff | Jun 16, 2011

To The Editor:

I would like to offer my congratulations to Pastor Deb Frysinger and Ben Bendola on the soon to be open Soup Kitchen at the First Community Congregational Church on Leeland Heights Blvd. The story was in last week’s Lehigh Acres Citizen and online at Lehighacrescitizen.com.

Ben Bendola was one of the first people I met when I began volunteering at the soup kitchen at Christ United Methodist Church. I was struck by his passion for feeding the hungry and his ability to work long hours for the ministry.

Very soon after I began volunteering the soup kitchen was transformed into a food pantry in a home on the church campus. From the beginning the food pantry was a big hit, thanks to the help of Harry Chapin Food Bank and several Lehigh Acres Churches plus dozens of volunteers. Those in need pick out their food just like a small grocery store.

Based on the information Our Daily Bread Community Food Pantry provides to Harry Chapin Food Bank the number of families served monthly increased from 386 in January 2011 to 639 in May. The total number of meals provided increased from 3,145 in January to 6,427 in May.

Pastor Frysinger is right when she says “people in Lehigh are in need.” This is a great example of a community working together to help each other.

John Holmes

Lehigh Acres