Freezer
Meals
Preparing ready-to-eat frozen meals
is an expression of care to widows.
Why to host
For widows, the support that is needed reaches far beyond the first weeks and months after the death of their husbands. The Freezer Meal ministry addresses not only the physical need of nutritious food but also meets an emotional need by showing a widow that she is remembered and cared for in the most basic way by her church.
With this in mind, we have worked with many churches to understand and grasp the needs and implement these ideas through the assimilation of a freezer meals ministry best practice. This best practice, along with the other practices in the Widows ToolKit, will help you and your church or organization have practical and concrete ways to reach the widows in your congregation and community and fulfill the calling of James 1:27.
How to host
Our ministry guide provides step-by-step advice for every step of the process. Including:
- Identifying widow guests
- Recruiting volunteers to help
- A cookbook
- Meal Prep Day event plan
- Suggestions for the chef
Contributing Creators
Thank you to our partner organization Under His Wings who contributed to the creation of this ministry and guide.
This ministry guide includes:
(Scroll down to download)
- Cookbook
- Helpful Links
- Meal Checklist
- Pictures
- Sample “Thank You” Letter to Volunteers
- Volunteer Invitation
- Welcome Sign
- Widow Invitation
How to Identify Potential Widow Guests
This practice is best implemented after the use of the other best practices in the ToolKit including the small groups and social gatherings. Once you know who the widows are and have worked to build a relationship with them, you will best know how to implement the freezer meals best practice. Once you know who the widows are, you will also be able to invite and advertise the freezer meals and what is offered through your church or organization and this best practice.
Like all the other best practices, we understand that each church or organization will have different levels of ability to participate in and implement this practice. We do not expect this to be a large-scale event for everyone, so we do not want you to be discouraged if you cannot implement all these ideas and practices. Do what you can and remember any assistance is helpful.
Volunteer Helpers
Engaging volunteers is a very important aspect of this best practice. The volunteers you have on board for other aspects of your ministry will be vital and important to this best practice. You may, however, want to advertise this to other volunteers because making meals is something that many love to do and the volunteers for freezer meals can also do things on their own time and still be of great assistance.
- Identify women within your community that have a heart to serve widows. Our Coffee, Cake & Conversation Best-Case Practice is a great way to identify volunteers.
- Widow ministry volunteers can be any age. Merging the seasons of life is valuable in creating a bond among the widows and volunteers.
- You can place the sample flyer in your church as a means to find volunteers.
Download the complete Ministry Guide below for a detailed list of volunteer tasks and assignments.
Widow Social Event Plan
Download the ministry guide below for details on how to facilitate a successful meal prep and distribution event, including pre-event and day-of tasks and suggestions.
Every event ministry will be different depending on the number of volunteers and widows you are serving. Stand in the Gap has provided the outline as a guide with successfully proven examples. You will need to manipulate the outline to fit your ministry. If you successfully implement other ideas into your widow ministry, please share them with SITGM so that we may make that information available to other ministries.
Contact
If you have suggestions for improving this ministry guide or questions about your event, please contact Amy Woody at amyw@sitgm.org