Molly Cummings, a team leader with the Conduit Ministries food truck outreach program, poses in front of the vehicle the church has converted to distribute food, clothing and hygiene products.

Amid the weekend winds and plummeting temperatures, several individuals and families on Sunday stood in line near the Conduit Ministries food truck in Brooklyn Square with the hopes of getting a warm meal, winter clothing and support.

Conduit Ministries has been providing food, clothing and personal hygiene products each Sunday. However, this past weekend, the strain placed on the already thin resources the church has required the immediate restocking of food items, cold weather gear and other needed items multiple times.

“We passed out 85 meals and ran out of almost everything,” said Molly Cummings, a member of Conduit Ministries’ food truck outreach. “What a whirlwind — 85 meals were handed out today. Let me give you an idea of what that looks like: 10 loaves of sandwich bread, nine pounds of tuna, four dozen eggs for egg salad, a roaster pan of soup, a pan of salad and dessert for each meal.”

After about 20 minutes, the group ran out of soup and cold weather items.

“The line just kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Cassie Blakeslee, an outreach team member. “We also noticed that this line was mixed with homeless individuals, and a rather large group of families not only seeking food, but stuff to keep warm, too. A short time later, we ran out of all our cold weather gear, soup, salads and hot coco and just about everything else.”

Because of the overwhelming request for assistance, and the increasingly dwindling supplies on-hand, the members of the food truck outreach team started to make calls to other nonprofit organizations and governmental officials.

“We reached out some of the other local churches and Crystal Surdyk (Jamestown development director) who put us in contact with Bonnie Weber who restocked us with emergency food, blankets, hand warmers and other need items, which was in turn passed out almost to depletion levels again,” Cummings said.

“As temperatures plummeted this weekend, the growing needs of the most vulnerable members of our community have become increasingly apparent,” Surdyk said. “We are grateful to volunteers from Conduit Ministries for providing meals to more than 80 individuals in need this past Sunday. We also want to recognize Bonnie Weber of ‘Be the Change You Want to See in Jamestown’ for swiftly coming to the aid of Conduit volunteers, providing blankets and other supplies for those receiving assistance. We are acutely aware of the incredible needs our community is facing and encourage anyone who has the heart or capacity to aid in efforts to donate your time, money, food, hats and gloves, socks, and blankets to one of the many local organizations working to aid our homeless and vulnerable individuals and families.”

Additionally, when church leadership was questioned about how to best assist and how to donate for this cause they stated “We don’t have any capacity to store food or clothing. However, those wishing to support us please feel free to make a donation on our webpage,” said Luke Miller, an assistant pastor with Conduit Ministries.

For those wishing to support Conduit Ministries’ food truck outreach program or make a donation, visit conduitministries.churchcenter.com/giving.