Ministry, congregation is called to help fill empty food cabinets in community

MCQUEENEY — Cars, trucks, SUVs and more streamed into the lot in front of an unobtrusive church on FM 78 in McQueeney.

In the cue of cars that backed up onto the highway was Tonnie Coleman, who sat in the passenger seat waiting for her opportunity to get a little food assistance from Divine Fellowship Ministries. She learned from a neighbor about the church which provides boxes of food to those who need it.

Coleman said she needs it.

“It helps me pretty good,” she said. “I don’t have a job. I’m on disability.”

Several others said they visit the church weekly. Divine Fellowship Ministries stacks boxes of food filled with chicken, bread, pastries, chips, vegetables, canned goods and more, and tries to distribute them every Tuesday morning to as many people as possible, Pastor Esmeralda Kachmar said.

When rain was forecast for the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 22, leaders of the ministry got on the phone and the internet to tell people the weekly food distribution was delayed, Kachmar said.

The day turned out to be nice but by then it was too late.

They had notified folks and they showed up in good numbers on a Wednesday instead, she said.

For about a year and a half she and her husband Pastor Bill Kachmar have run the ministry after taking over from Pastor Don Crane, who administered it for many years before moving away and passing the couple the reins, Esmeralda said.

“He kind of passed the baton to me and my husband and had us to run with the ministry,” she said. “He ordained me and my husband and he told us there would be a day he would be leaving and he wanted us to run the mission. That’s where we are right now, carrying on the legacy.”

For 11 years, Crane ran the ministry out of First Baptist Church in the 200 block of South Camp Street. In the summer of 2016, a two-alarm fire destroyed the historic landmark church.

Robert Kirk was a member of the church when the fire burned. Crane began hosting church services at his own home, Kirk recalled recently while helping to pass out food as a volunteer outside the church.

“After that, we had (church) in the park,” he said. “We went to the high rise, then we got this building. We’ve been here ever since.”

He continues to attend church services at Divine Fellowship, Kirk said. He volunteers because the work is important. “We make sure nobody who leaves here goes hungry,” Kirk said.

Maria Whitaker of Seguin said she’s been to the ministry to receive food a few times. On Wednesday, she returned and was thankful.

“It’s going to help a lot,” Whitaker said. “It’s for me and my daughter and her kids.”

Volunteers each week plan to distribute food to more than 100 people, providing at least three boxes to each person who requests the help, Esmeralda said. They’ll give more than three boxes to people who need more, she said.

Area businesses and other nonprofits donate food. Tyson provides chicken, Frito-Lay in San Antonio offers chips, H-E-B helps with bread and pastries, Walmart gives produce and others pitch in, Esmeralda said.