Earlier this fall, Bishop Lanette Plambeck invited United Methodists across the Dakotas to share in the 2025 Thanksgiving Offering, "A Harvest of Gratitude." In addition to donating to connectional support for Feeding South Dakota and the Great Plains Food Bank, she encouraged congregations to address food insecurity and other basic human needs within their communities.

Here are a few of the ways congregations are doing just that.

Wall and Wasta, S.D. – Competition Fuels Compassion

In previous years, the Lutheran churches in Wall and Creighton would host a food drive throughout October.  But this year, they decided to challenge the other churches in the area to join in the efforts. The churches decided to have a friendly competition to see which church could donate the most food. 

Wall UMC collection for their local food pantry. (photo: Justin Trent)

What resulted was the churches coming together to donate four pickups full and two carloads of items to the Country Cupboard Food Pantry – over 2,500 pounds of food. 

"The church was really excited," said Pastor Justin Trent, who serves the United Methodist Churches in Wall and Wasta, South Dakota. "Wall is a very competitive community, so as soon as they had a chance at a competition, it was right up their alley."

The spirit of competition, generosity, and faith in action was a catalyst for the entire congregation.

"It was a whole church effort," said Pastor Justin. "The Sunday school and youth group were involved, bringing cans of food when they came in for church school or youth group, and every Sunday in October, when I left church, I had a back seat full of groceries to take over."

At the end of the contest, the Wall and Wasta United Methodist Churches led the pack with 1,328.2 pounds of food donated – over half of the total received.

The Country Cupboard Food Pantry serves the communities of Wall, Philip, Quinn, Creighton, Wasta, and Elm Springs.  Donated food items ranged from vegetables and fruit to pasta sauce and cereal, as well as 30 pounds of ground beef.  These donations help provide nutritional grocery items to families in need and to backpack programs in Wall and Philip.  Items donated filled the pantry's shelves to the brim with shelf-stable items for the coming holiday months and beyond.

The churches of the community are already discussing plans for their next competitive philanthropic activity – a kickball tournament to raise money for other local charities.

Rapid Valley, S.D. – Responding to the needs of neighbors

Further west, the United Methodist Church in Rapid Valley is finding simple ways to address the needs of its neighbors. On November 3, the Free Little Food Pantry was set up on the corner of their parking lot.

The idea for this mission began to percolate about 2.5 years ago. Pastor Quaya Ackerman fielded a question. "Our men's group kicked off again here at River Valley, and they asked me what some dreams or community outreach things they could be involved in," she said.

Free Little Food Pantry at Rapid Valley UMC (photo: Quaya Ackerman)

Research into the MissionInsite demographic data revealed that the Valley had many low-income families and single-parent homes. Pastor Quaya was inspired by the Free Little Food Pantry at Rapid City Open Heart UMC as a way to meet the needs of the surrounding community.

"I've always wanted to have a food pantry," shared Pastor Quaya. "I feel like, especially in our location, it would be so needed and widely used. There really hadn't been anything like that in the Valley."

As the idea gained steam, a member of the church took the initiative to construct the structure with several shelves to hold pantry items. The group identified a strategic location on the property, and a hole was dug to create a solid foundation for the new mission. Lighting has been added inside to improve accessibility in the evening hours.

"I was very happy that they built it that way because some of the designs were smaller, and I think that in our space with such a large parking lot, it would just kind of get lost," said Pastor Quaya. "I'm very grateful for the men's group."

The congregation has some grant funding to get the outreach efforts started while they begin to gather donations. A local non-profit already caught the missional spirit and dropped off a load of items to fill the pantry. The church is creating a team to manage and care for the pantry and is also exploring ways to expand the Free Little Food Pantry's impact.

"We're going to place a prayer box and a special needs request box in there with other things we have available, so, if people feel comfortable, if they need these things, they can make a note and we'll make sure that they get it," added Pastor Quaya.

St. Thomas, N.D. – Small but Determined

In the opposite corner of the Conference, another church is committed to BEING the church in ways that let their community know they are there and that they care. A pumpkin patch event and a Free Little Pantry are two ways they are doing that.

Each fall for nearly ten years, the United Methodist Church in St. Thomas, North Dakota, has held a fall pumpkin patch event.  What started as a fun event primarily focused on kids has become a way to bless people of all ages.

"We provide pumpkins for any child and then we provide a meal, either to eat in or to go," said Sue Green, a member of St. Thomas UMC.

Little Free Pantry in St. Thomas, N.D. (photo: Sue Green)

They decorate garbage containers to look like pumpkins to collect free will donations. Proceeds support the Free Little Pantry. Like Rapid Valley UMC, the St. Thomas congregation has found it's a needed resource in their small community. They worked with the local café to place the structure indoors between the café and the post office.

"When we first started, I was a little skeptical, because I thought, 'There are people with food insecurity here?'" recalled Green. "It's amazing the amount of food that goes out. With this last craziness with SNAP benefits shutting down, it was really needed. There are people who don't have food, who don't know where their next meal is coming from."

The Free Pantry mission has also inspired generosity within the community. "When I let it get down, the community steps up, and there will be cans of soup or boxes of pasta that get dropped off. It's wonderful to see the community respond," said Green.

The pumpkin patch and meal this year were another reminder of the importance of outreach like this, notably as volunteers witnessed the need and gratitude for the meal that accompanied the pumpkins.

"This is why we do this. We're the only church in St. Thomas, and the purpose of our church is to do like Jesus did – feed the hungry, help the poor– Matthew 25," shared Green. "We're small but determined. We want to do what we can to help the community."