How Angel Food Ministries Works

You may have seen the Angel Food banners dotting the countryside. They are springing up in front of churches and nonprofit organizations alike. Angel Food Ministries is a food relief program offered through Emmanuel Praise Baptist Church of Good Hope, Georgia. Angel Food is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian ministry. It is not a grocery store. You will receive a Christian magazine with each box.

The Angel Food program began in 1994 in Monroe, Georgia by Pastors Joe and Linda Wingo. Originally, 34 families received food. Now, the organization feeds thousands of families across the US each month. Angel Food is in 32 states but is still growing.

With high gas prices families are begging for relief wherever they can find it. Angel Food advertised their food boxes as "food relief". Savings on food can be used in other areas of a family's budget such as gasoline.

My family has found Angel Food boxes to be helpful. The agency I work with has been a host site for two years. I have personally been buying Angel Food boxes off and on for longer than that.

Angel Food offers a basic box for $30.00. It is designed to feed a family of 4 for about a week. According to Angel Food the retail value of this box ranges between $42 and $78. The menu changes each month. Additional "special" boxes may be purchased. These run between $18 and $20 per box. Although Angel Food now offers a produce box and some items are shelf stable, much of the food is frozen.

A new box is being offered for senior citizens. The Senior Box includes 10 frozen meals for the microwave. Each includes 3 oz of protein and two vegetables. This may also be good for college students. Some students who live in dorms may not be able to always make it to the dining hall when it's open. They may value having a stash of microwave meals in their freezer.

Cash, checks and food stamps can all be used to buy food. A few locations offer credit card payments. Online processing by Angel Food is in the works but not yet available in most areas. There are no qualifications. Anyone can buy a food box regardless of income. The program is literally open to everyone.

The program is very simple. Select the host site where you will order and pick up your food. A host site will either be a church or nonprofit agency that has registered with Angel Food. There is a fee and paperwork associated with being a host site. Staff and site volunteers have to be trained. The host site fee goes to pay for the banner and training for host sites.

Some has been said about the money host site receives from Angel Food. Each month, the host site will receive a $1.00 donation from Angel Food for every box they sell. This helps pay for copies, newspaper ads, to reimburse a volunteer for gas in a truck to go get the food from the drop off point, The more boxes a site sells the more your costs go up. You'll need extra copies and possibly even extra trucks for pick up.

At our host site, if there ever is any money beyond costs it would go to buy food boxes for those who can't afford one but aren't on food stamps. And yes, host sites have to pay full price too.

To clear up any misconceptions let me say this; I know of no host site who views Angel Food as a fundraiser. In theory someone might. I've never met them though.

The buying process is simple. Buyers must order Angel Food boxes and pay for them at the host site early in the month. This is when families typically have more disposable income. The boxes arrive by truck near the end of the month when things are tighter for families. You must be there on the day of distribution to pick up your box. There are no storage facilities and most locations. Angel Food plainly states that boxes not picked up will be given to other families in need or organizations who can use the food.

The savings comes because Angel Food is buying in bulk and reselling with a lower mark-up than a grocery store. They advertise quality foods with name brands that you recognize.

But is the box really a value?

This seems to depend on who you ask and what you use in an Angel Food box. Obviously, there is no value to paying for food you won't use. I did a comparison check with the August Angel Food Box menu and our local grocery store. On the food we used, it looks like we directly saved about $14 that month. It was a little hard for me to tell. The sizes that you get with an Angel Food box do not always correspond with the sizes of products in the grocery store. Also, despite the advertising few products are actually brand names that your local grocery store carries. That makes it hard to compare.

One thing the Angel Food box did was cut my trips to the grocery store. This saved on gas and it kept me from purchasing items my family really didn't need. Before buying Angel Food I didn't realize how much those extra add-on items increased our grocery bill!

While Angel Food does advertise quality food sometimes it is just not good quality. Much of the meat is either processed, breaded or both. The chicken almost always is great but the red meat is sometimes a challenge. Over the past few months we have noticed a substantial increase in the red meat so the problem may have just been temporary. The new fruit and veggie box blew away our expectations. The food was top notch and seemed to have a normal shelf life for produce.

There are a few items each month that we don't normally use. I have had fun experimenting by trying different things. (Two notables were the cheese flavored bratwurst and the tomato and basil gourmet sausages.) A girlfriend of mine hates experimenting and won't use something she doesn't know.

Fortunately, many Angel Food sites have collection boxes. You can drop items in that you aren't going to use and they will be given to people who will. At work, extra items always go into the food pantry. The recipients of our food pantry boxes almost always are grateful. This seems to hold true even if they don't know how to cook a particular item.

Overall, my family and I have been satisfied with both the value and convenience offered. Since the quality is improving we will continue to purchase Angel Food boxes. If you give it a chance and it's not for you there's no reason to order again. But if you find you like the program and food the cost savings can be a help during these troubled economic times we live in.

Current menus and more information can be found on the Angel Food website at http://www.angelfoodministries.org

A sample regular (basic) box food menu for October 2008 is below.

1.5 lb. Ribeye Steaks (4 x 6 oz.) (Frozen)

4.5 lb. (avg) Split Chicken Breast Family Tray Pack (Frozen)

26 oz. Heat and Serve Meatloaf and Brown Gravy (Frozen)

1 lb. Chicken Breast Fajita Strips (Frozen)

1 lb. Boneless Center-Cut Pork Chops (4 x 4 oz.) (Frozen)

1 lb. Fully Cooked Meatballs (Frozen)

1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs (Frozen)

1 lb. Frozen Sliced Carrots

1 lb. California Blend Vegetables (Frozen)

1 lb. Pasta (Boxed)

28 oz. Marinara Sauce (Canned)

48 oz. Hawaiian Punch

32 oz. Borden 2% Reduced Fat Shelf Stable Milk

12 ct Corn Tortillas

One Dozen Eggs (Often medium size) One Dessert Item (Often a box of cookies.)