Contributed by Cindy Privette
Brown Bag Ministry is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves the homeless and hungry in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Brown Bag Ministry prepares and distributes over 2,700 brown bag lunches to the homeless and those in need every Saturday.
Volunteers include individuals, families and groups. They gather at five sites each Saturday morning to prepare lunches that are distributed throughout Durham and Wake counties.
Every Saturday morning, St. Eugene Catholic Church in Wendell packs 1,000 bag lunches. Volunteers gather at 9am every Saturday to prepare and pack bags, then leave around 11am to distribute them.
Of the bags packed, almost 400 bag lunches are taken to Zebulon United Methodist Church. Almost 300 of these are given away — to anyone who stops in at the ZUMC Mission House, located at 114 W Sycamore Street between 10:30am and 12:30pm. Another 120 are picked up from ZUMC by a volunteer who takes them out to community members who are unable to come in for food — and some of them are taken to the Zebulon Boys and Girls Club.
For those interested in donating, the following items are needed on a weekly basis for brown bag lunches: bread, lunch meat (turkey, ham or bologna), sliced cheese, cheese and crackers (individual packages), granola bars, piece of fruit, bananas, bottled water, and homemade cookies/brownies.
Donations may be dropped off at St. Eugene Catholic Church, 608 Lions Club Road, in Wendell NC. Call 919.365.7114 for schedule details.
