Feeding the needy continues despite fire at food pantry

Volunteers filled the fellowship hall at Hudson Church of God on Christmas morning for a final act of service by the ACTS Community Resource Center. Organizers were up well before 6 a.m. cooking and packaging up meals to be delivered to more than 500 people in need on the holiday.

The effort comes three weeks after an electrical fire tore through the ACTS Community Resource Center, destroying nearly everything including the ministry's food pantry- a resource that hundreds in the area depended on, especially at Christmas.

During the week before Christmas, Fox 13 learned that the resource center is being forced to close due to the fire with no plans to reopen. Organizers said they had been leasing the community center’s site on U.S. 19 and would not be rebuilding there. They went on to say they could no longer accept money donations, clothes or household items intended for the ACTS center.

The statement from the ministry reads in full:

“It is with a heavy heart that the board members of Broken But Beautiful Ministries, Inc. d/b/a ACTS Community Resource Center has decided that ACTS is no longer in operation due to the recent event of the fire. We leased the site and we will not be rebuilding on that site. With this being said we cannot take donations of clothes, household items or support intended for the ACTS Center. Please be aware of fraudulent donation sites collecting on our behalf as we are not taking donations at this time. We still are a functional ministry that operates under Broken But Beautiful Ministries, Inc. in which we hold our 501(c)(3) under and we intend to still share God's Word and love to the community as He directs us. If any monetary donations are received they will go toward BBB Ministries and used for the furtherance of the Gospel as God deems us. If you have donated funds as of 12/04/2019 that were intended for use of rebuilding you may request a refund and we will gladly return them.

We do know that God has a plan for all this and He will unveil it as time goes by. While we are in this transition and "down time" please stay tuned to our website actsresource.org for future updates and plans. Many people are asking, what about the homeless? We value the relationships that we have made with thousands of "broken but beautiful" people over the years and those currently that we have been working with. We thank all of them for their love and devotion as many have helped each day to make ACTS what is was. We were all family and even though some days were really tough we still can put our arms around them at the end of the day and say I love you. Words that many never hear. I know that God is not leaving them out of His plan and we all just have to keep praying for clarity, wisdom and direction. Many of you may have questions, please feel free to contact us and we will try to answer them as quickly as possible.”

The announcement made the Christmas day meal delivery the final act of service for the ACTS Community Resource Center as volunteers worked to provide food today for elderly and disabled folks who are shut in. Organizers said Baycare Health System had stepped in to assist with food supplies. The organization said it is also willing to refund anyone who donated money to help rebuild.