FBC welcomes Roy Medley, ABC/USA General Secretary

The First Baptist Church of Bennington welcomes the Rev. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches/USA, on Thursday, May 17, at 1:30 p.m. As part of his visit, Rev. Medley will tour the facilities of The Kitchen Cupboard, the interfaith food distribution center located at 800 Gage Street in Bennington. Area faith communities and clergy are welcome to join the tour at The Kitchen Cupboard to learn more about this great success story of the creative community partnerships made possible through the efforts of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services, Inc. (GBICS) and many community volunteers.

Rev. Medley’s visit celebrates a $10,000 domestic development grant received last year by First Baptist to support The Kitchen Cupboard’s start-up needs, purchasing commercial grade refrigeration and helping make possible an accessibility ramp to facilitate greater access for all persons to the facility.

Since its opening in April 2011, The Kitchen Cupboard has served over 1,100 households in need of food assistance. (This statistic represents 1 in 4 households in the Bennington community being served by The Kitchen Cupboard’s twice weekly food distributions.) The Kitchen Cupboard is one of the three GBICS community programs, including the Food and Fuel Fund and the Bennington Free Clinic, which is housed at the First Baptist Church.

The $10,000 grant was provided by the One Great Hour of Sharing domestic development fund, administered by the American Baptist Churches/USA and made possible by the generosity of 1.3 million American Baptist congregants nationwide donating annually to this fund for global and domestic aid. The First Baptist Church affirms its collaborative partnership with GBICS as part of its mission to be "a place for healing, community involvement and spiritual grounding."

To attend the event, please RSVP the Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot by calling 802-442-2105, ext. 1, or email fbpastor@sover.net, by Monday, May 14. He will update you to any changes, if any, to Rev. Medley’s schedule for the day and assist with directions. On the day, please go directly to The Kitchen Cupboard at 800 Gage Street rather than the offices of First Baptist.