WINONA LAKE — Grace College and Mission Point Community Church invite all community members to participate in the 13th annual Supermarket Sweep on Jan. 31 at Kroger, 2211 E. Center St., Warsaw.
Between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m., Mission Point volunteers will provide grocery lists of nonperishable food items and baby products to Kroger shoppers. Once purchased, these items will be donated to Combined Community Services (CCS), Salvation Army and Heartline Pregnancy Center.
“January continues to be the busiest month of the season,” said Tim Frame, director of emergency assistance for CCS. “Last year, a record of 110 families visited the food pantry in a single day, and over the entire month, a record of about 750 families visited. We are expecting to break those records again in 2024. With the holidays and giving season coming to an end, we experience a drought in donations until spring, so having Supermarket Sweep at the end of January will help fill our shelves.”
Over the past 12 years, Supermarket Sweep has resulted in the donation of more than $200,000 worth of nonperishable items to local food pantries.
The day of shopping culminates with a game-show-inspired competition among teams of Grace College students, faculty and staff. Beginning at 9:30 p.m., groups “sweep” the store, shopping for items on their list and competing to earn additional gift cards to spend. At the end of the night, teams are awarded prizes for winning the most money spent altogether and the most money spent per shopper.
After the items are purchased, volunteers from Mission Point Community Church sort and pack the donations for the local food banks to pick up.
Kearstin Criswell, mission coordinator at Mission Point Community Church, encourages community members to get involved however they can.
“Use your lunch break to make a quick Kroger run and fill up a cart,” said Criswell. “Or if you have a family with children – make a pit-stop on your way home from school and use it as a tool to talk to your kids about giving back to the community. If you cannot make it to Kroger at all, you can give to the cause online. This is truly an event where we can all play a role.”
The school is adding a new educational element to the event this year as well.
On Jan. 23 at 7 p.m., Grace College is hosting a showing of “The Working Hungry,” a PBS documentary about food insecurity that showcases a food bank in Plymouth. Following the movie, the school will host a panel discussion on food insecurity and its presence locally. The showing will be held in Room 100 of McClain Hall, 601 Connection Circle, Winona Lake. The event is free and open to the public.
"Through events and volunteer opportunities such as this one, it is a prayer and goal that each of the students can find a way to exercise the love of Jesus to the Warsaw community around us,” said Samantha Fudge, coordinator of the Grace College Serve team. “Christ called us to be His hands and feet in the way that we care and uplift the people in our community as defined in Matthew 25."
To give to Supermarket Sweep online, visit missionpoint.churchcenter.com/giving/to/supermarket-sweep.
To get more information about Mission Point Community Church, go to missionpoint.net/, and to learn more about Grace College, visit www.grace.edu.