What if you could buy groceries each month worth anywhere from $42 to $78 and pay only $25 for them?

Well, you can do it right here in Athens through a program called Angel Food Ministries.

The non-profit, non-denominational organization offers savings on groceries and financial support to communities across the nation.

“It’s not just for those who are having hardship, it’s for anyone – President Bush or Donald Trump,” said Cheryl Biggs, program coordinator for Lindsay Lane Baptist Church in Athens.

The program started in Monroe, Ga., in 1994 with 34 families. Now it feeds 395,000 families every month.

It isn’t just for the poor.

“I use it myself,” Biggs said. “You could use the money you save to offset the cost of gas, or pay off some debt. My husband and I like to put it back into the church, in addition to what we put in for the tithe, for what he calls “kingdom work.”

“I like that we are able to help people from all walks of life from real young to real old – it’s for anyone and everyone,” said Angela Watwood of Athens who helps distribute the groceries when they come in by truck.

Participants can buy $25 worth of groceries – or one unit – and help feed a family of four for about a week. A unit feeds a senior citizen for about a month.

“It’s the same food you buy in a grocery store, only cheaper,” Biggs said.

“It’s a lot of good food for not a lot of money,” said Faye Colella of Athens, who also delivers groceries.

There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.

Participants can also buy specialty boxes such as steaks, chicken and pork. There is no limit to the number of units or bonus foods an individual can purchase, and there are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere.



How the church benefits

The church receives $1 for every unit it sells, but the money must be used for outreach, according to the Angel Food Ministries Website.

“We have done a lot with the money,” Biggs said. “We have sent some children to camp who could not otherwise afford to go and we have purchased units of food for needy families.”



Why so cheap?

Biggs learned about Angel Food Ministries from a fellow congregate, Cindy Farrell, who heard about it from a friend in Nashville.

Cindy and her husband and Biggs and her husband Chuck were co-directors of the program.

“It was through Cindy’s idea and Chuck’s leadership that it got off the ground,” Biggs said.

It sounded a little too good to be true at first.

“The first questions my husband and I asked were, ‘Where do they get the food and why is it so cheap?’

“They told us that when Angel Food Ministries wants Mrs. Smith’s brand pies to include on the menu, they call Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries directly and ask them how much they would charge for 75,000 pies,” Biggs said. “Two years ago, they could get them for $1 a pie,” she said. “Now they buy twice as many. They buy direct from the makers in large quantities.”

Angel Food’s groceries are sold in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $25 per unit. Each month’s menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $50.

“We went to Wal-Mart one month and bought comparable items and we spent $50,” said Biggs.

The national website for Angel Food Ministries comparison shops across the country using a wide range of retail grocery stores and estimates the cost of the groceries at between $42 and $78.



How it works

At Lindsay Lane and other host sites, menus are distributed and participants order what they want by phone, mail, email, fax, in person or through envelopes or order forms used for that purpose. They can pay by cash, check or food stamps.

The church submits the orders and 13 days later, the food is trucked to the church’s family life center, where participants can pick it up and get the menu for the next month. In some cities, someone from the host site picks up the food from Angel Food’s 160,000-square-foot warehouse in Monroe, Ga.

In most cases, as long as there is a truck headed in the direction of a community who wants this program and sees its ministry influence, there are no extra transportation costs, according to information on Angel Food Ministries’ Website.



Spread the word

The church members and community groups that host Angel Food Ministries find intangible benefits.

“I enjoy just providing the service to people,” said Colella.

It’s a family effort for the Colellas. Her husband Scott helps unload the grocery truck when it arrives at the church early in the morning on distribution day. She and her 13-year-old daughter, Abby, help distribute the food once it is unloaded.

According to the Website, volunteers benefit in the following ways:

• Receiving hands-on experience and training with rewarding service to others.

• Providing discounted food not only for those that need it, but also for any others who appreciate deep discounts on quality groceries.

• Providing additional money for community outreach.

• Giving churches and organizations an effective outreach to the community to meet real needs in a genuine way – often times drawing new participants and visitors into the mission at hand.

Each food order includes information about the gospel of Christ. But the hosts say the service is not about denomination.

“It’s about meeting the needs of the people,” Biggs said.

For example, the Colellas take grocery orders from Cotton Patch trailer park and then deliver the groceries to those who are unable to pick them up or to get a neighbor to pick them up.

“It’s a great program and it’s been hidden for so long,” Biggs said.

For more information

Angel Food Ministries are in 29 states. In Alabama, there are more than 60 host sites that take orders for groceries. Some nearby cities include Madison, Huntsville, New Hope, Scottsboro, Cullman, Florence and Arab.

For more information about the program go to www.angelfoodministry.org, or call Cheryl or Chuck Biggs at 233-4110 in Athens.