• Community Profile: Gracepoint Church 5&2 Program

I always love to share the good deeds of others. Today's Community Profile is about the Five and Two program at Gracepoint Church, also known as Wildomar Gracepoint Church of the Nazarene.

The HOPE truck being offloaded at Gracepoint Church.

I spoke with Pastor Wink Davis and Ministry Director Gay St. Yves, about the program that assists the needy with food and clothing.

Every second and fourth Saturday of the month they team up with HOPE to feed those in need. They get between 20 and 50 volunteers to help with the food distribution.

The food comes from a variety of sources

The "fresh rescue" portion comes from HOPE, as seen in the image below with boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables being offloaded. 

Eager hands help get the food ready for distribution.

If HOPE's supply is low, they dip into the church's pantry. 

They've also gotten food from various retailers like Albertson's, Vons, Trader Joe's, Costco and Panera Bread. The Mormon church has given them money to purchase goods from their store in the past. 

I asked how the community can participate by donating time or food. 

Gay told me, "We've had several people just show up with food that they've bought, and they come and tell us they want to donate, and we make sure that food goes out that day."

Gay continued, "They can also donate [by] giving to HOPE, that also helps us out. We're working on our own 501c3 so that we can become our own entity and then they would be able to donate directly to us."

Fruits and veggies before they are put into smaller bundles.

"If people want to volunteer their time all they have to do is show up on the second and fourth Saturday, and we will put them to work." 

You don't have to be a member of their church to volunteer. You don't have to be a member of any church for that matter... and it's also a great way for high-schoolers to get their community service hours in.

Gay went on, "A lot of the people that are working today, are people that also get boxes [of food]. So they've seen us working and they ask, "can we help?""

If you'd like to donate, either time, money or food, you can also make arrangements ahead of time. That would be done through the church. 

They have a dedicated Facebook page for the 5&2 program, and for those that don't do Facebook, you can reach them at info@gracept.org. 

Link to 5&2 facebook page

A look at the lineup of boxes ready to go to needy people.

I learned that they also accept clothing donations.

Instead of dropping of your old clothes in one of those metal bins, operated by out-of-towners, consider donating your old clothes to a local charity instead.

They prefer that you would drop them off during business hours, which are Monday thru Friday (closed Thursday) 9:00am to 4:00pm-ish. If those hours don't work for you, just contact them and I'm sure they'd be happy to work with you.

Two different donation boxes, within 100 feet of each other in the Stater Bros parking lot, that are operated by people far out of town. 

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Contact info

• Address: 21400 Canyon Dr, Wildomar, CA 92595
• Phone:(951) 674-4481
• info@gracept.org

Link to Church Facebook Page

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A little rule, a little sway, 

A sunbeam in a winter's day, 

Is all the proud and mighty have. 

Between the cradle and the grave.

— John Dyer, 1699–1757

Wildomar Rap walks the walk and has a fitbit to prove every step.