Early on August 20, a group of dedicated volunteers rose before sunrise and headed to St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in southwest Fort Worth. Their mission was simple yet powerful: pack more than 500 brown‑paper‑bag lunches for people experiencing homelessness.
Decades of service rooted in faith
The sack‑lunch program began in March 2020, when the shelter faced a shortage of volunteers amid the COVID‑19 pandemic. “We started in my house but outgrew that real quickly,” recalled Matt Loynachan, a member of the church’s mission committee and former board member of the Presbyterian Night Shelter. Since then, the effort has become a monthly staple of the congregation’s outreach.
To date, St. Stephen has provided over 62,000 sack lunches to the shelter, according to trustee Mike Tyson. Each month, parishioners assemble the meals, which are then delivered to the shelter for distribution to both residents and community members in need of food and water.
How the lunches are assembled
Volunteers form an assembly line in the church parking lot, each assigned a specific food item—applesauce, granola, cookies, chips, or a classic peanut‑butter‑and‑jelly sandwich. Larger boxes are prepared to hold the completed lunches for transport.
Residents of Stevenson Oaks, a senior‑living community nearby, often lead the sandwich‑making effort, adding an intergenerational dimension to the service. “We naively thought this was going to last two weeks—maybe three weeks—and we were doing 1,100 lunches a week,” Loynachan said, recalling the program’s early intensity during the pandemic.
Impact on the shelter and the community
Shawanda Kennedy, volunteer engagement manager for the Presbyterian Night Shelter, described the program as a “mainstay” for the nonprofit. The sack lunches have proved especially valuable when the shelter’s ovens failed, ensuring that people remained fed.
“It is amazing to see this much love poured out for a community of people who sometimes think they’re not worth it,” Kennedy said, highlighting the spiritual and emotional uplift that accompanies the physical nourishment.
Continuing the tradition
The church’s commitment reflects a broader Christian call to serve the least‑among us, embodying the biblical principle of feeding the hungry. By mobilizing volunteers, seniors, and church members each month, St. Stephen Presbyterian Church demonstrates how faith‑based action can address tangible needs in Fort Worth.
As the program moves forward, organizers hope to maintain the momentum built over four years, ensuring that the sack lunches remain a reliable source of sustenance for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.
