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United Methodists in hunger documentary

 
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7:00 A.M. EST August 16, 2011


The Rev. Andy Brock, of Greenwood United Methodist Church in Winchester, Va., often gleans several mornings a week. He says he recommend gleaning to his congregation, and “If I preach it, I have to live it too.” UMNS photos by Mike Hickcox.
The Rev. Andy Brock, of Greenwood United Methodist Church in Winchester, Va., often gleans several mornings a week. He says he recommend gleaning to his congregation, and “If I preach it, I have to live it too.” UMNS photos by Mike Hickcox.
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No one was out in the fields, under the hot sun, for the sake of the camera. They were there to help feed hungry people. For two days in late July, the camera was present, getting interviews, shots of volunteers spread across the fields, and close-ups of hands pulling ripe peaches from trees and twisting corn off stalks.

Scenes like this happen on most hot, summer days in Winchester in northern Virginia. Volunteers — who arrive from all directions in cars, vans and pickup trucks — suddenly disturb the tranquility of a farmer’s field. A farmer has finished harvesting a section of orchard or field, and much good produce remains, if only someone would come and get it.

Society of St. Andrew area gleaning coordinator Betty Heishman  puts out the call, and volunteer gleaners from many churches show up, all with the same intention: to spend two to three hours gleaning good, fresh food that will be delivered that  day. The recipients will be area food pantries, soup kitchens, older adults’ homes and other agencies feeding people in need.

However, the two days in July were unlike typical gleaning days. Debra Gonsher Vinik, of Diva Communications in New York, was waiting for the gleaners, along with her husband, videographer David Vinik, and local audio engineer Doug Palmer. Gonsher Vinik was gathering video for a TV documentary called “A Piece of Bread: Food, Earth, and the Future.” The National Council of Churches commissioned the documentary, slated to run on ABC network affiliates in late November.


These three gleaners bagging corn in the field are all from United Methodist churches: Tom Bryant, Robert Brooks and Rick Creasy.
These three gleaners bagging corn in the field are all from United Methodist churches: Tom Bryant, Robert Brooks and Rick Creasy.
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Tom Bryant: "I've been hungry before."


Robert Brooks: “People were waiting for the food and that’s the biggest thing.”


Curtis Smith: “I like to be among the harvesters.”

‘Come and get it’

One segment of the documentary will show these gleaners eagerly gathering peaches in John Marker’s orchard, and corn in Bill Cline’s field. Both farmers have invited Society of St. Andrew to “come and get it.” Both regularly donate crops this way. Many of the gleaners have been to these locations many times.

The Rev. Andy Brock arrived in Winchester, Va., six years ago as pastor of Greenwood United Methodist Church. During the season, he answers the gleaning call as often as three mornings a week. He says it is a spiritual discipline to do service and feeding the hungry is a wonderful way to follow the commands of Jesus.

A parishioner of Grace United Methodist Church, Gail Hahn, is a regular gleaner. She considers this a perfect way to “feed my sheep” as her hard work makes it possible for hungry people to enjoy fresh, nutritious food.

The United Methodist Men’s Foundation and the National Association of Conference Presidents of United Methodist Men underwrote this documentary segment. Both organizations are affiliates of the United Methodist Commission on United Methodist Men. As it turns out, the gleaners caught by the camera this day include members of half a dozen United Methodist churches.

In the cornfield, three men gather to bag a pile of fresh-picked corn. One is Tom Bryant, of Ardenstown United Methodist Church. Bryant also delivers some of the gleaned food to a food bank, a men’s homeless shelter, a women’s mission and a home for mentally challenged adults.

Gleaning in two dozen states

The second man is Robert Brooks, a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, who retired from an airline job in 2002. His first experience with Society of St. Andrew was a “potato drop” almost 30 years ago in which he bagged a 40,000-pound truckload of potatoes. The third man is retired anesthesiologist Rick Creasy, a member of Braddock Street United Methodist Church. He gleans two to three times a week, his chance to enjoy fresh air and nice people as he works hard to help others.


Gleaners continue through the rows creating a pile of corn to be bagged.
Gleaners continue through the rows creating a pile of corn to be bagged.
View in photo gallery

Each day, more than 20 gleaners – United Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Baptists, Congregationalists and others – sweat together in the sun, talking, laughing and working hard. At the end of the day, around the dinner table at home, each will know  others also are eating fresh food because they gleaned that day.

Every year, Society of St. Andrew coordinates thousands of gleaning events like these in two dozen states. Many of the gleaning coordinators are Hunger Relief Advocates, coordinated by the United Methodist Men in various annual (regional) conferences. Each year, the organization and its volunteers save 20 to 30 million pounds of fresh produce and deliver at no cost to feeding agencies across the United States.

Editor’s note: The ABC network will distribute the documentary to all of its affiliate stations on Nov. 20. Local stations will decide if and when to air the hour-long show. Call your local ABC affiliate to learn if the show will air.

*Hickcox is communications director for the Society of St. Andrew.

News media contact: Maggie Hillery, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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