40 years of Columbus congregations uniting across faiths for this shared cause
The Wynnton Neighborhood Network turned 40 in May, marking four decades of interfaith collaboration to provide food and utility assistance to Muscogee County residents in need.
The network is celebrating not only its longevity but also its unique structure as a coalition of eight congregations pooling resources to meet everyday needs in the Columbus community. For the past 40 years, the network has been committed to serving people where they are and helping them keep the lights on and food on the table — a mission some fear could become harder to sustain amid shifting federal policies.
Still, as the need continues to grow, the Wynnton Neighborhood Network is determined to continue to support the community.
“[The founders] sought to pool resources of volunteers. They started small, but their hearts were big, and I hope that we have continued that,” Mary Lou Jarrell, Wynnton Neighborhood Network board president, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “The mission has not changed. … We have the same goal of taking care of God’s children, no matter what they believe and whatever their background is.”
History
The Wynnton Neighborhood Network was established in 1985, when several congregations realized they could better serve the community by working together. It began as a centralized hub for assistance, allowing those in need to seek help in one place rather than having to go from church to church.
It has now grown to encompass eight congregations:
- Epworth United Methodist Church
- Living Grace Church
- Shearith Israel Synagogue
- St. Matthew Lutheran Church
- St. Paul Church
- St. Thomas Episcopal Church
- Temple Israel
- Wynnton Methodist Church.
What started as an initiative to help 35 families per week has grown into an extensive program operating out of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. The network provides food assistance to 25 people per day, five days a week.
Last year, the network fed over 20,000 people, including over 9,000 children, according to its website. The network also allocated over $57,000 in utility assistance, helping a record 615 families in 2024.
To qualify for assistance, individuals must be Muscogee County residents and meet income requirements set by the United States Department of Agriculture. Eligible families can come once per month to receive a cart full of fresh food and pantry staples.
Jarrell, who has served as board president for six years, said the need is especially great in Muscogee County, where the rates of food insecurity and food stamp eligibility are higher than the national averages, according to USDA and previous reporting by the Ledger-Enquirer.
“It can happen to anybody. It’s not people who are just making bad decisions and are lazy and not going to work,” said Jarrell, a St. Paul member. “They need help, not judgment. And that’s what we’re called to do. … We try to be God’s hands by helping others and lifting them up and giving them what they need.”
WNN sources food from Feeding the Valley and community donations, but it also buys from local retailers when supply is low. The network is entirely volunteer-based, and nobody gets a paycheck.
The network also offers utility assistance for Muscogee County residents with Liberty Utilities, Diverse Power or Georgia Power providers. Applications are taken over the phone Mondays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and noon.
Clients
The clients inspire the network’s volunteers, Jarrell said.
“We have people who are homeless that come to us, and my heart just breaks for them, but they are always so grateful and so upbeat,” she said. “We have one client named Lucretia who, every time she comes, brings a thank-you card and $20. They are just incredible.”
Rozina Thomas has been visiting the network every month for years. She said it has helped her supplement the food stamps she receives.
“They give you a lot of food. It’s been a great experience for me,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “I really enjoy coming here. … They’re such good people. I’m not embarrassed by coming here. If you need help, come.”
Wanshenntal Wineglass is another yearslong recipient of the Wynnton Neighborhood Network’s services. She said the food pantry helps ease some of the anxiety around meals.
“For some people, you don’t know when the next meal is going to come. So coming here is a plus,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.
And she has something to say to the network: “Just thank you. Thank you for being here and helping out everyone who needs it.”
Former WNN board president Randy Autry, a network volunteer for 16 years from Wynnton Methodist Church, said the gratitude is the paycheck.
“That’s the great reward — not getting paid but the great reward of feeling that we’ve helped somebody and that they appreciate what we’ve done,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Community building and interfaith connection
It’s not just the clients who benefit from the network. Sue Cheney Hiers, a network volunteer for 19 years from St. Paul Church, said learning from other religions and other walks of life is particularly rewarding.
“Working with [the clients] enables me to stay in touch with a side of life that I am not necessarily going to see very much at St. Paul,” Hiers told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It helps me see a different variety of problems.”
Understanding the daily challenges others face is key to furthering religious outreach, she said. It’s also key to building bridges between faiths. The network’s long-standing interfaith collaboration is uncommon — and it’s helping strengthen the community.
“Both Christian and Jewish faiths look at service to fellow man as a religious directive,” Hiers said. “I’m much more aware of and much better in touch with the Jewish community than I would have been otherwise. It’s definitely been an education to me.”
Rabbi Larry Schlesinger from Temple Israel said this religious directive has been engrained in the Jewish faith for centuries. In Judaism, the Hebrew term “tikkun olam” means repairing the world, and “mitzvah” means commandment but also can mean good deed. Both are concepts that apply to the Wynnton Neighborhood Network’s motivation and mission.
As a rabbi, Schlesinger said, he is proud to be the spiritual leader of a congregation that not only perceives but also actively addresses community needs.
“The need to make sure that those less fortunate than ourselves has been around for basically 3,000 years within the Jewish biblical tradition,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We see this as an extension of what God wants us to do. The fact that we’re able to do it in kind with congregations in the area is the icing on the cake.”
Claire Beil, a network volunteer for 35 years from Shearith Israel Synagogue, said not only has the need doubled, but the community involvement and procedures have evolved as well.
“It’s really important that we come together and share this really important religious teaching together to help our neighbor,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Beil served as the WNN board secretary for 20. She said her long involvement has given her a deep understanding of the community and its needs.
“We don’t realize from day to day things that we take for granted,” Beil said. “It’s been really good to work in the community. … Being an interfaith organization, I think we take from each other and really do something good for Columbus and Muscogee County.”
Fears for the future
Earlier this year, the USDA canceled $420 million in funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement — a program that helps food banks and local groups provide food to their communities, according to CBS News.
These kinds of federal funding cuts could cause significant harm to local initiatives that rely on funded food banks for their supply. The Wynnton Neighborhood Network already feels the effects.
“It used to be that there was much more government support and food surplus through Feeding the Valley,” St. Thomas Episcopal Church Rev. Grace Burton-Edwards told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But at this point, almost all the food is being purchased at retail prices, where it used to be 19 cents a pound through Feeding The Valley.”
Inflation has been a cause for concern, too. Jarrell said a cart of food that once cost $14 now costs $21, and the network’s expenses run about $200,000 per year.
Still, the network has increased efforts to meet those challenges.
“I’ve been really impressed all the congregations have risen to the occasion,” Burton-Edwards said. “Everyone’s recognized that we all just have to work harder right now to make sure the pantry has what it needs to be able to offer what it can.”
Burton-Edwards said meeting these challenges is one way the network embodies God’ s love.
“All of these opportunities really help folks stay grounded in why we’re here in this community and what it looks like to be followers of Jesus today,” she said. “The Wynnton food pantry is a little taste of the heavenly banquet. We trust that God’s leading us toward a world where we take better care of each other, and the food pantry is a start on that.”
Jackie Waldman, a network volunteer for several years from Temple Israel and a WNN board member, moved to Columbus four years ago and almost immediately got involved with the network. Despite funding cuts at the national level, she said, the network won’t slow down.
“I would imagine that the kind of food that we get from Feeding the Valley is going to be lessened, but that doesn’t mean we’re gonna give people less food,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “People believe in it.”
Former Wynnton Elementary School principal Libba Russell, a network volunteer for 15 years and a WNN board member from St. Thomas, said seeing the strength of the network eases some of the apprehension.
“Working with other people from other churches has been a real blessing for me to meet them and see how they are committed to helping people,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We all work together … and we share this commitment and it makes it such a strong neighborhood.”
The Wynnton Neighborhood Network welcomes more donations and more volunteers. Food donations are accepted Mondays-Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., at the pantry behind St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Financial donations can be made by visiting wynntonneighborhoodnetwork.org/donate/.