Well of Grace Baptist Church opens food bank

The Well of Grace Baptist Church has a new food bank up and running in the Valley, and the church is hoping to grow the food ministry quickly.

For 18 weeks, the church has been helping others through the food bank three times a week.

The food bank is the only bank in Wasilla that is registered through the Alaska Food Bank, organizers said.

The goal is to make sure nobody goes hungry, regardless of situation.

"It's how we show our neighbors that we love and care for them," Rebecca Ruby, a member of the church, said. "Before welfare, it was the churches who took care of those who didn't have food and couldn't care for themselves, and they did a good job of it."

Ruby said if people have transportation problems, it doesn't matter to the food bank organizers.

"We'll find a way to get them food if they need food," Ruby said. "We will find a way to help everyone."

The food ministry is growing, and Ruby said there are even bigger plans for it.

"We are hoping to get a mobile ministry set up so we can take the food bank to Willow, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek," Ruby said.

"We want to get the food to the people, and not all the people live in the Wasilla area," Ruby added. "Our church wants to reach out to everyone."

The food bank isn't just a holiday event, either. It's a yearround program that is aimed at helping a growing concern -- homelessness in the Valley.

"There are 600 homeless children alone in the Valley," Ruby said. "People don't even realize we have a homeless problem here, but we do have homeless teens. We do have homeless families. It isn't going away. We have to help feed those people."

The food bank is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 3 p.m.

Because the food bank isn't affiliated with federal organizations, people can come when they need food, not when the calendar suggests.

"With some programs, you can only get food once a month.

"For us, if people are hungry and don't have food, we'll feed them every week if that's what it takes," Ruby said.

Well of Grace Baptist Church -- "a really spirited Baptist church," according to Ruby -- is located in the Westside Center in Wasilla.