Coronavirus Update

Latest Update: June 5, 2020

As our local businesses, parks, churches and other organizations begin to reopen, we would like to say thank you to all of our community partners and ministry supporters for their support during these past several months. The prayers and financial support has been amazing!

We also need to thank our volunteer teams for the countless hours they have given ordering food, scheduling volunteer teams, loading and unloading vehicles, packing food bags, disinfecting our buildings, scheduling pick-ups and deliveries, and so on.

We recognize there is still a great need for food assistance. We anticipate that the need will continue to during the summer months and into the Fall.

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to serve our community. Please pray for our volunteers. Please pray that our financial support remains strong during this time.

Between April 1 and June 5, CMJC has purchased 192,512 pounds of food for distribution throughout the county. In addition to the 8,205 food bags distributed to area children, we’ve also provided just over 1,500 food bags to the Jackson YMCA as well as 900 food bags to the residents at Reed Manor.

Our community food pantries have served 1,597 families since April 1 and with the help of our church partners, we’ve made 125 home deliveries of food to residents who are unable to get out of their homes due to transportation issues and health concerns.

Lastly, we continue to purchase food from the South Michigan Food Bank where we buy over $850 of food value with a $100 donation. In addition to giving directly to CMJC through our website, you can all visit the South Michigan Food Bank, https://smfoodbank.org/donate/ and give to CMJC there. Please be sure to add “CMJC food ministries” in the comments.

Latest Update: May 4, 2020

CMJC is joining in the celebration of #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving and unity on May 5, 2020. This will be a day to come together (virtually) and give back in response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19, no matter who or where you are.

CMJC partners with local churches, schools and community organizations to provide much needed support in our local area. Many of our volunteers have been on the frontlines of providing food and assistance to the most vulnerable among us. We also recognize others like healthcare workers, grocery store clerks and mail carriers who risk their own health to serve us in these trying times. On Giving Tuesday Now, write a note, send an email, send a text, make a phone call or just say THANK YOU to those you know who are out there doing what they do to make our lives better. Commit at least one act of generosity to show how much you appreciate what others are doing on your behalf. And do so with a big smile because God loves a cheerful giver!

And if your one act of generosity is to make an investment in CMJC, we would appreciate you visiting our website at www.cmjackson.org and help us continue to meet the tremendous needs within our community.

We received tremendous financial support from individual donors as well as businesses and community organizations. CMJC received a $10,000 grant from the Covid-19 Response Fund.

During the month of April, CMJC distributed 4,500 food bags, made 100 home food deliveries, served 811 families served at our community food pantries and purchased 81,390 pounds of food for distribution into Jackson County

Each Wednesday, our network of school partners receive food bags from Compassionate Ministries. We are providing food bags on a weekly basis to Northwest Community Schools, Lyle Torrant, DaVinci Schools, East Jackson Schools, Francis Street Primary, Paragon Charter Academy, Parma Elementary, Concord Schools, Warner Elementary, Bean Elementary and Hanover-Horton School District.

CMJC has been working closely with the South Michigan Food Bank, bringing fresh food distributions (FFD) to locations throughout Jackson County. On April 23, CMJC hosted a FFD at Lily Baptist Church. These will occur on a regular basis on the fourth Thursday of each month at Lily Baptist.

CMJC will bring another fresh food distributions (FFD) to Jackson County. On May 19, CMJC will host a FFD at East Jackson Church of the Nazarene. These will occur regularly on the third Tuesday of each month.

Latest Update: April 20, 2020

We are now partnering with the Jackson Y Center in our food distributions. In the last two weeks we’ve provided 450 food bags for them to distribute to those living in the Partnership Park neighborhood and surrounding areas.

Each Wednesday, our network of school partners receive food bags from Compassionate Ministries. These food bags are distributed to the families who come to the schools to receive prepared meals. Currently we are providing nearly 700 food bags each week to our school partners and expect this number to rise to nearly 900 food bags being distributed each week to schools throughout Jackson County, by the end of the week (4/24).

Our community pantries continue to distribute throughout the month, all using a drive-up mobile pantry model. On the first and third Saturday of each month, our community pantry at JaxNaz Church continues to serve our community. Nearly 400 families visited the drive up pantry at JaxNaz during the month of April. Additionally, two of our community pantry partners distribute on the second Saturday of each month. Pentecostal Lighthouse in Michigan Center and our newest church partner, Found Church. Found Church is now distributing two times per month in a parking lot at 1701 Woodbridge. The number of families receiving food at this location has doubled since the first time Found Church distributed there. On the fourth Saturday of the month, nine of our partner churches distribute food from their location. Each of these sites distributes non-perishable food as well as meat, produce, and bread/baked goods.

Our church partners from The Beacon Church, Radiant Church, and JaxNaz Church distribute food bags to every resident at Reed Manor (300) the first Wednesday of the month.

CMJC has begun a home delivery system for those who do not have transportation and are unable to get to our community pantries. CMJC has supplied its partner churches with an inventory of food bags. Once a person calls the CMJC offices (395-2652) requesting food assistance, CMJC contacts the partner church located nearest the family/individual requesting food and delivers the food. Our goal is to have the food delivered within 24 hours of the initial phone call into the CMJC office. The number of families requiring home delivery is rising, and we expect it to be near 100 home deliveries by the end of the week (4/24).

CMJC has been working closely with the South Michigan Food Bank, bringing fresh food distributions to locations throughout Jackson County. On the fourth Thursday of the month our partners at Lily Baptist Church will distribute fresh produce between the hours of noon-1pm. We anticipate several of our other community food pantry partners will begin fresh food distributions soon.

Lastly, we would like to thank everyone for their prayers and financial support. The needs are many and without your support, many people in Jackson County would be without food. Please continue to pray and prayerfully consider giving financially to Compassionate Ministries of Jackson County.

Update: April 1, 2020

“And love will hold us together

Make us a shelter to weather the storm

And I'll be my brother's keeper

So the whole world would know that we're not alone”

-Singer Songwriter, Matt Maher

As the number of cases of the coronavirus continues to rise throughout our nation and right here in Jackson County, Compassionate Ministries of Jackson County (CMJC) is doing its best to provide food to our neighbors throughout our community. Last week we provided food to over 1,000 families with the help of our school and faith partners, as well as hundreds of volunteers who packed food bags, delivered food, disinfected our work spaces and prayed. Just today, each resident (300) at Reed Manor received a food bag with the help of our friends from The Beacon Church, Radiant Church and JaxNaz Church. 546 bags of food were distributed to six of our school partners today, each distributing to families within their school district. We are so grateful for our community partners!

The community food pantry at JaxNaz Church will be open this Saturday, April 4th from 8:30am-11:30am. The pantry will be a drive-up pantry again this week. All guests receiving food MUST stay in their vehicles and one of our volunteers will deliver the food bags to you. Please follow directions given by parking lot volunteers. All volunteer positions are filled for the April 4th pantry.

Additionally, we continue to work with our church partners throughout Jackson County. If you or someone you know needs food, please call the CMJC offices, 395-2652 or email us at hello@cmjackson.org.

If you are interested in volunteering, please email us at serve@cmjackson.org. We have small groups of people assembling food bags on a regular basis.

Lastly, your prayers are coveted. Pray for our volunteer teams, school and church partners, and our financial resources at this time. Thank you!

Update: March 26, 2020

The focus of Compassionate Ministries of Jackson County to address hunger in our community is more critical now than ever before. We know that the road ahead will be tough for all of us but even more so for those who are most vulnerable. And vulnerable is not only just those who we have been serving in the past, but an even broader new group of neighbors who will be impacted by the coronavirus.

We have been working diligently to make sure we can get food to those who need it. A key focus is getting food out in a manner that is safe to those who receive it and safe to the volunteers who are helping to get the food out. Our normal protocols and procedures have been modified. The need to evaluate what we do and how we do it is a daily endeavor. Sometimes it’s an hour by hour endeavor.

Compassionate Ministries of Jackson County, along with its church and faith partners, will be distributing food this Saturday, March 28th at locations throughout Jackson County.

The locations and approximate distribution times are:

Bethesda Church of God in Christ, 1500 Merriman St. Jackson. 10am distribution
East Jackson Church of the Nazarene, 5549 Ann Arbor Rd, Jackson. 10:15am distribution
Spring Arbor Church of the Nazarene, 8200 King Rd. Spring Arbor. 11am distribution
Southside Church, 419 E High St. Jackson. 11:00am distribution
Lily Baptist Church, 1117 W G Wade Dr., Jackson. 11:00am distribution
Found Church, distributing at 1700 Woodbridge, Jackson. 12pm distribution
Pulaski Free Methodist Church, 9975 Miller Rd., Pulaski. 12:15pm distribution.

Upon arrival to community pantry sites, guests shall follow staff/volunteer direction. Community pantry staff/volunteer will conduct registration at the guest’s vehicle and pre-packaged bags will be delivered. There is no need for you to get out of your vehicle as the food filled bags will be brought directly to you. In the interest of keeping human contact to an absolute minimum, we believe that this is the safest course of action to take moving forward, especially during these challenging times. Again, PLEASE remain in your vehicles and follow the direction from our community pantry personnel.

We are in conversation with our church and school partners and are developing additional innovated ways to distribute food throughout Jackson County. This will include home delivery. Please look for updates on our Facebook page, Compassionate Ministries of Jackson County and by visiting our website, www.cmjackson.org