It had been a day like any other when Michael Bishop, who was volunteering at his home church of Chester Baptist in Ackerman, Miss., looked up from his work to see Pastor Rob Falk coming his way. Falk had just gotten word that the local Choctaw County Food Ministry, a nonprofit that provides food assistance to impoverished people, was in need of volunteers of its own, and he asked if Bishop could lend his assistance.
The next day Bishop climbed into his truck and drove toward the Choctaw County sheriff’s office and jailhouse, the ministry building’s direct neighbor. The ministry itself occupied a large metal building with a tightly packed parking lot that was abuzz with activity that morning as other volunteers carried food out to load into clients’ vehicles. Amid the throng of people Bishop found CCFM Operations Manager Roger Griffith and asked what he needed to do.
With other volunteers occupied moving food out of the ministry, Griffith set Bishop to transfer donated goods from other organizations inside. That first day Bishop spent three hours hauling heavy boxes loaded with canned goods and produce into the metal building’s storeroom. The work was tiring, Bishop says, yet he still found himself returning week after week to continue assisting the ministry.
At first he told himself that it was just for the sake of having something worthwhile to do, but Bishop’s stance changed the longer he worked, and he found himself watching the smiling faces of the dozens of people young and old whom the other food ministry volunteers were helping. Over time he took on more duties, including food distribution logistics and paperwork for the organization, until one day in 2017 Roger Griffith retired from his position and named Bishop as CCFM’s new operations manager in his place.
“During my time here I’ve worked with everyone from single mothers to families of seven, and ensured food made it to infants to people as old as 94,” Bishop says. “For a lot of them it’s hard to even find time to get up here once a month, and I take it upon myself to deliver boxes of food and other essentials to them myself. When you give a person in need someone they can talk to even for a little while, when you put a smile on their face and bring about a change in their emotions, you know you’ve done something right.”
Founding the Food Ministry
Roger Griffith’s wife Laura Griffith founded the Choctaw County Food Ministry in 1997 together with several other women from the Women’s Mission Organization at Concord Baptist Church in Ackerman, where Roger Griffith serves as pastor.
Griffith, alongside Sylvia Carr, Jean Maness, Caroline Thompson and Edwinna Wise, was attempting to discern the greatest need facing the people of Choctaw and went about surveying residents on the topic. The principal of Ackerman Elementary School and several others told the group that, based on their observations, families lacking enough food to nutritionally sustain themselves was a notably significant problem within the county, which spurred their decision to open a food pantry.
The first incarnation of the Choctaw County Food Ministry took place inside a 10-by-12-foot storage room inside a building on Seward Street in Ackerman, Laura Griffith says. From there it moved into two separate old factory buildings in town, the Bellwood Building and the Kelwood Building, before ending up in its present location.
“The people of Choctaw actually raised the money to construct the building the food pantry and thrift store (are) now in from the ground up, and they put up enough so that it was debt-free from the start,” Griffith says. “Folks realized how important this project was and how much it needed to be able to expand.”
The Choctaw Food Ministry now assists roughly 400 people in Choctaw County per month, Bishop says, with summer and holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas bringing in larger numbers. CCFM may provide assistance to people outside of Choctaw County as well if they seek it, though the ministry also refers them to resources closer to them.
Bishop’s organization receives roughly 56,000 pounds of food per year from retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, Aldi and Dollar General. The organization also receives monthly donations from the Mississippi Food Network including baked goods, milk, fish, apple juice and essential commodities such as light bulbs. CCFM also cooperates with MFN to host food drives throughout the year.
CCFM abides by Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program guidelines in determining who qualifies for assistance, which requires individuals to provide proof that they live in Choctaw County and are at the poverty level in terms of income.
While CCFM is a religious organization at its core, members cannot share religious materials or pray with clients unless they specifically request it, Bishop says. However, at least half of the group’s clientele do so, he says.
“I get a lot of people who almost demand that we pray with them before they go on their way,” Bishop says. “Being able to help people or point them to where they can get the help they need every day is a blessing, and I just want to see our local communities get even more involved.”
‘Stepped Up at the Spur of the Moment’
As operations manager, Bishop is primarily responsible for overseeing the pickup of fresh food from donors, as well as taking inventory of everything that makes its way into the food pantry or thrift store. Bishop also manages the organization’s food drives and fundraisers and performs maintenance on the pantry’s freezers, all of which often keeps him working from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., he says.
“A month ago we actually received a donation of several new freezers, but it’s often difficult getting and keeping food to put in them,” Bishop says. “Just a few weeks ago, a freezer at the local Kroger gave out, and we made arrangements to pick up the food in it. Then we got a bunch of sandwich meat from Dollar General when two of theirs in Ethel and Ackerman went out, which helped us fill our previously empty ones up.”
The problem with keeping up the pantry’s stock largely comes from inflation, Bishop says, as people who are struggling to purchase food for themselves can’t afford to donate any to other people. The ministry similarly saw reduced donations from retailers and other sources for similar reasons in recent years. While CCFM’s pantry is not as full as it was in the past, it is still doing well compared to other food pantries in the region, Bishop says.
“Sometimes I wonder if we’re going to have enough food for a given week, but any time I doubt I pray to God because I know he’s kept this place running since 1997,” Bishop says. “People in this community know when we’re in need, and those who can will buy whole grocery carts to donate to us. I’ve also got great volunteers helping with distribution, so I can feel good even on days I’m not here in person. There may be hard days, but I know this is where I want to be and want to stay involved here.”
For his part, Roger Griffith feels that Bishop has done fine work since taking over the Choctaw Food Ministry from him seven years ago.
“Michael came to me as a young man and stepped up at the spur of the moment when I retired,” Griffith says. “I go back and see him every now and then and help out if he needs it, but he does so great on his own. Running the food ministry is a lot of responsibility, but he’s deeply committed to what he does there and has just been doing an awesome job.”
For more information on the Choctaw County Food Ministry, call 662-736-4480 or visit msfoodnet.org/location/choctaw-county-food-ministry.
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