Members of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Alabaster recently began collecting bags of rice and bags of beans to distribute to needy members of the community.

The two food items may not seem to amount to much, but to some families it could mean several meals.

“It’s just a simple economic source of protein for people who really need it,” said Rector Lee Lowery. “You can make a good meal out of it.”

Lowery said his congregation has done other ministry work in the community but wanted another small mission that could make a big difference.

They got the idea from the Episcopal Church in Clanton who also distributes similar food items in its community.

“People in our community are hungry for both food and God’s message,” Lowery said. “We need to be conscious of both of those needs and let them know we care enough to fill them.”

Lowery said the congregation is small so they wanted to start the effort off small and hopefully grow steadily as the word gets out to those in the community who truly need help.

“We wanted to have a kind of signature event so people would know, ‘Hey, that’s the church that gives away food once a month,’” Lowery said.

The church hopes to provide the items for at least 15-20 families Feb. 20. They also plan to set aside time from 9 a.m.–noon on the third Saturday of each month to do so again. The church is located at 858 Kent Dairy Road off Shelby County 26 in Alabaster. For more information, call 621-3418 or visit Holyspirit-al.org.