The Lord will fight for you. All you have to do is keep still.
Faithfully, a group of about ten to fifteen volunteers arrives at Fellowship Hall at First Baptist Church to pack colorful sacks with snacks and simple meals for students in need at the Artesia Public Schools to take home over the weekend. Color coded by school, loaded into sturdy wagons, and rolled into the Artesia schools; packs bring peace of mind for local kids over the weekend.
These colorful sacks are fondly referred to as “packs.” The packs help fight hunger over the weekend for Artesia’s youth. The simple meals and snacks empower youth to care for themselves when the need arises. The meals can be prepared with a microwave or with hot water. The snacks can be consumed without any preparation. The Packs of Love program helps ensure that local kids can come to school ready to learn, with a bit less stress, after the weekend break. These past few weeks averaged a creation of 155 packs thoughtfully pieced together by the loving hands of volunteers through the local organization. Each pack is prayed over as it is put together, and the weekly gathering has a biblical message that helps steer the work of volunteers. A recent message came from Exodus 14:14: “The Lord will fight for you. All you have to do is keep still.” The purpose of the steering messages is to express the prayer that each pack will reach a child in need of sustenance, both physical and spiritual sustenance, and their needs will be met.
Packs of Love, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit, leads this group of dedicated volunteers who move and shake and make things happen in the community. Led by SuAnn Greenwood, Riann Holder, and Anna Thompson, Packs of Love has been a mainstay in Artesia for the past nine years (with an unofficial test year at Grand Height Early Childhood Center before its official inception). Greenwood, Holder, and Thompson–all mothers and community members–organize donations, food drives, volunteers, and Amazon wish lists to keep the program 100 percent nonprofit and 100 volunteer-led running.
Greenwood expresses that the most rewarding part of the long-running program for her is during the holidays when Packs of Love offers holiday meals through vouchers from local grocers or needs-based gifts like blankets and board games. “The kids are sooooo happy!” she says cheerfully. Packs of Love is there for the youth of Artesia throughout the year and during the most hectic times of the year as well. Packs of Love goes above and beyond. The Packs program partners with other local organizations and hosts volunteers from other programs as well. Kristen Cook of Shop with a Hero, another 501(c)(3), explains that she comes to help pack bags because “it creates organizational synergy” and builds connections with many different people across town.
If you’d like to be a part of this meaningful work, team up with Packs of Love every Thursday at 11:45 am at the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church at 322 West Grand.
