By Liam Garrity
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. (KY3) – The community of Mountain Grove gets even tighter on Fridays as different churches and businesses come together to feed the athletes.
The First Christian Church of Mountain Grove makes it their mission to feed everyone. Preacher Justin Devries, said everyone is invited to these events.
“One thing I love about the community is that no one is really left behind,” said Devries.
In Mountain Grove, football and fall food are a staple for Mountain Grove athletes. Different churches and businesses come together to take turns feeding the football team.
Devries said this event is expanding.
”Our job as a church is we like to do our best to unite the community,” said Devries. “We have taken on feeding the volleyball team, and the cheerleaders, and the cross country team, the band, and the football team, all together throughout the day. Just trying to let them all know that we care for our community.”
Ryan Allen, a volunteer and the missions team director, said it takes a lot of cooking to feed everyone, but it’s all worth it.
”Well, this week, I cooked 60 pounds of pulled pork,” said Allen. “It’s rewarding to see that you can help people.”
Church members said this a tradition that spawns a decade and the community plans to keep it going for years to come.
“We’re proud of our community. We have a community that’s a tight knit community,” said Devries. “We love our sports, we love our kids, we love our schools, and so part of it is that’s what really drives us. We really want the kids to know that they have people that love them and care for them.”
Allen said even if this is a small gesture to some, it still makes a long-lasting impact for kids and community members.
“One thing we try to focus on is if First Christian Church was to not be in the community tomorrow, would anybody miss us?,” said Allen. “If the answer is, nobody would miss us, then we’re not really doing what God’s called us to do.”
