Last Tuesday, when I was on my way to Redmond Funeral Home to do the prayer service for +John Rassau, I saw a Blessing Box in front of the Freeport Historical Church. Perhaps some of you also saw it and you are curious to know what this Blessing Box is all about. Well, I can tell you that this Blessing Box is one of the efforts of the Ministerium in Freeport.

Ministerium is an association of clergy from various denominations who come together to accomplish a specific purpose, often to build collegiality and to meet or address socioeconomic needs in the community. And that means St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church and Sower’s Chapel in Sarver are the composition of Freeport’s Ministerium who meet once a month.

The idea of a Blessing Box was proposed and discussed at one of our Ministerium meetings and all churches, through its pastor, agreed with its cause.

This Blessing Box is a miniature food pantry where people leave donated goods from non-perishable food to toiletries for others to pick up anonymously. There is no lock on the Blessing Box. It is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. These donated essentials can help fulfill short-term basic needs for those who don’t always have access to them or who may be struggling to make ends meet and get through the day.

So the idea is to be a self-sustaining resource in the community to help people through a temporary, short term situation and struggling with homelessness and hunger. It is not a substitute for the local Food Bank.

If you are blessed enough, you can share your blessings to our less fortunate by providing non-perishable food and toiletries at the Blessing Box. In doing so, we remember what Jesus said in the gospel: “For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:35-40)