Angel Food Ministries

Today we are picking up on our theme of being frugal from last week. This is a post from Rick Aldrich about Angel Food Ministries, how it works, how it can be is used to minister practically to our neighbors and friends and how it will help a family be frugal..........


Another way to save money is by participating in cooperation with others to save money by buying in bulk. This is generally hard to organize, but others have done the hard work for you. There are many co-ops around, but the one I want to introduce you to is called Angel Food Ministries.

You may have already heard a little about it at Temple as there are already a few that are participating in it. What it is, is simple. Every month they have a box of assorted food items available for $30. You place your order early in the month and then on the fourth Saturday, you go to the designated site and pick it up. The items if purchased at a regular food store could cost you from $42 to $78 depending on where you shop. The boxes are filled with enough food to feed a family of four for a week. They also have a box they call the senior or convenience box, This contains 10 prepackaged meals for $28. And, once you have purchased a regular box they have some bonus options that you can purchase as well. You don't get a lot of choice, but there is a variety of items. They purchase in bulk and require orders to be placed to get significant discounts.

Because it has ministry in the name, many think that only certain people qualify to receive the benefits. But that is not true. It is intended to be a ministry to everyone who buys food. Anyone can buy and everyone is encouraged to participate. The more people that participate, the greater potential exists for Angel Food to negotiate discounts and reduce costs that they can turn into better value.

We are also looking for ways to use this as an outreach tool. It could be as easy as letting your friends know about it and help them to participate. It could also be something as meaningful as buying a box for a family in need. Our small group is looking for other ways to help and even got involved with the distribution this past month.

A lot of questions can be answered at the Angel Food Ministries website. You can also see the menu and place an order for the upcoming month.If you have any questions or would like to get involved, just let me know and I'll get you in touch with the right people.

Let's Get Frugal ......

A few weeks ago I asked if anyone had any resolutions they would like to share, and a dear friend shared that she was resolving to put more "heart" into meal prep for her family and to find cheap ways to do it. What we here at the True Women blog are wondering is if any of you are interested in sharing with us and the other readers your ideas on putting more "heart" in your dinner times and what you are doing to cut costs in a time where it has become more essential for people in general to watch what they spend. By "heart", we mean, what motivates your prep times and meal planning. Maybe you can share any little touches to the dinner table to add a bit of specialness, or little dinner time traditions such as using it as a time to ask questions and demonstrating what true fellowship looks like to the kids, or perhaps that is when you do family worship, or when you give gifts to your spouse, or whatever little ritual you do that makes dinner a little more than ho-hum. Sharing recipes that are economical and tasty are definitely welcome as are of course any other money saving tips. Please just put them in the comments section of the blog. We also have the privilege of having a very dear friend of ours who we know to be very gifted in frugality to give us some help on this subject. Please be on the look out for her post this week. We are looking forward to your participation.