RINCON — You can’t see it, but it’s in every bag of groceries packed by Manna House Ministries. Somewhere between the milk, bread, fresh vegetables and canned goods is a sense of hope.

Manna House Ministries supports more than 900 needy Effingham County families monthly. The organization, backed financially by 30 area churches and local donors, distributed 750 food boxes for Thanksgiving.

“It’s a lot of work to put this together, but it is very rewarding,” said Lisa Bush, executive director of Manna House Ministries. “It’s very rewarding to see the faces of the clients as they come through and know that you gave them hope. We are able to give them hope to get through the next week.”

About 100,000 pounds of food is supplied each month to the Manna House pantry by six area grocery stores, local farmers and several vendors. Hunters occasionally donate venison.

“There are a lot of different things that go on to help us get food secured,” Bush said. “I tell the girls and guys here all the time that we are like a funnel. We are getting food in to push it back to the people who need it.
“We believe that God sends it and we are to give it out.”

See the Nov. 22 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.