Harvest Procession brings in more than 2,000 pounds of food

Published 12:39 am Tuesday, November 27, 2018

SALISBURY — First United Methodist Church helped feed the hungry on Thanksgiving with a church-wide food drive called Harvest Procession.
The church provided people with paper bags donated by Food Lion and a suggested shopping list of nonperishable essentials for a Thanksgiving meal that could be prepared with minimal kitchen access.
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, worshippers carried their filled bags to the front of the sanctuary during the processional hymn, “Come, Ye Thankful People Come.” The goal was to fill the chancel space with a harvest gift for those who are hungry.
“It is a moving experience to physically bring your gift and lay it beneath the cross, and to see hundreds of others joining in is a powerful experience that fills you with gratitude,” says Mary Allen Conforti, wife of Pastor Mark Conforti. “Some people were brought to tears by the visual impact of so many people offering thanks to God and offering help to others.”
The Harvest Sunday goal was 100 bags. Volunteers who delivered the bags to Rowan Helping Ministries the next day counted 202 bags totaling 2,331 pounds of food.
“We are thrilled that people responded to the invitation to give and to share during the season of harvest,” Conforti said.
Organizers hope the Harvest Procession will become an annual mission opportunity.