BRADFORD— Every first and third Thursday of the month from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., Solid Rock Apostolic Church hosts a Shared Harvest food pantry drive-thru.
Since the start in April 2021, the church created an accessible way to distribute food and household items to thousands in need in the community.
Amber Kearney keeps things running smoothly.
Kearney became the director of Harvest at the Rock in Sept. 2021. She organizes, orders and receives everything at the food pantry.
“Right now, Darke County is under a food shortage crisis,” Kearney said. “They are currently not charging us for food. But if we weren’t, the church pays for that.”
Along with Kearney and her family, up to nine volunteers from the church help keep the drive-thru running.
A volunteer visits each car, and checks them in through the Shared Harvest database. Volunteers organize the food from the pantry in a kitchen in the back of the church.
“We try to do three meals per person per day for three days,” Kearney said.
Although a small team, they serve Darke and Miami counties.
“We have approximately 70-plus households,” Kearney said. “As far as individuals, we have approximately 225 each time we are open. That’s how many people that they tell us they have in their households.”
Recently, on June 1, they provided food for 49 families —a very slow day for the drive-thru.
As for the month of May, the church provided 3942 meals for 438 people.
By using their drive effectively, Solid Rock Church has created a very accessible way to get families in the community what they need.
“It makes it nice to have this type of drive so they can just pull in; they don’t have to get out of their car, we bring the food to them, we pack it in their car,” Kearney said. “Some other pantries, I know that you have to go inside and you have to go up and down stairs, so we get a lot of elderly out here because they don’t have to get out. We try to make it easy.”
With new people each time they open, Harvest at the Rock continues to grow.
Amber Kearney, and all who volunteer at the church ensure nothing goes to waste and no one leaves without getting what they need.
“Shared Harvest’s motto is if you have more, give more; if you have less, give less,” Kearney said.
Solid Rock Apostolic Church is located at 8991 Old State Route 36, Bradford, OH 45308. For more information go https://srac.church/.
