Local Organization Provides Essentials To Those In Need

Picture is Renee Ruffin founded Faithful Meals in Motion. In 2015 Renee busy at work preparing to hand off gifts to her helpers during her giveaway event. Photo provided by Renee Ruffin.
Picture is Renee Ruffin founded Faithful Meals in Motion. In 2015 Renee busy at work preparing to hand off gifts to her helpers during her giveaway event. Photo provided by Renee Ruffin.

Local Organization Provides Essentials To Those In Need

By Tia Carol Jones

Renee Ruffin founded Faithful Meals in Motion in 2015.  Ruffin said it was instilled in her from a young age to give to others who might not have as much as she does. She recalled how her mother always invited people into their home for a meal.

 “Just seeing how she gave back to the community and took total strangers off the street, cleaned them up and they would be sitting at our dinner table,” Ruffin said. She said it was her prayer to God before she died to let her be able to start a nonprofit and give back to the community.

Ruffin grew up in the Henry Horner Homes, on government assistance. She said her mother still gave back and helped out others. She said what her and her husband are doing with Faithful Meals in Motion is what was done for them when they were growing up, standing in line for free food, toys and everyday essentials. She said it is a pleasure for her and her husband to be able to give back. Since 2015, Ruffin estimates that she has helped around 8,000 people.

Ruffin works hand-in-hand with social workers from the school districts. She provides food, clothes and toys throughout the year, not just during the holidays. She began Joy-filled Kids Meals in Motion because there was a need for schoolchildren and their families to receive food during the summer. She ended up expanding it throughout the year, because she realized that the schoolchildren were in need.

Now Faithful Meals in Motion boxes up the food and delivers it to the house. Ruffin doesn’t just deliver the items, she goes into the homes and visits with the families, because she wants them to feel comfortable with her.

Ruffin said in the beginning it was challenging because she was providing the help from her own funds and couldn’t get any support. She said now she is getting some sponsors, but she is still hoping more people are able to help her help these families.

She is also hoping that someone can donate a building for her, because she has outgrown the space in her home where she operates the organization. Ideally, the space would be for multipurpose use so she could operate all of the organization’s programs out of the building -- room for a kitchen and food pantry, activities and events, as well as a shelter for the unhoused.

“That way, it doesn’t matter what God puts on my heart to do under that building, I’m able to do it, because I have the space for it,” she said.

Ruffin said that while she and her husband are retired, running Faithful Meals in Motion is like a full-time job. When they get a call for a family in need, they are boxing up the clothes and essentials, if they don’t have them, she goes to purchase them and deliver them to the family. With a permanent space, she would be able to set it up as a store where families in need could shop, without having to pay for the goods.

“When I do for these families, I want to give from my heart,” she said.

During the holiday season, Ruffin and her husband ensure children and families in need have presents. She not only purchases the presents, but she also takes the time and care to wrap the gifts. She wants the children and families to have pretty presents under their tree.

She said the response from the families has been overwhelmingly positive and they are grateful for her generosity. She said seeing the smile on the children’s faces when they receive the wrapped presents is what keeps her going. But she admitted, all the work takes a lot out of her. She said she also needs more people to volunteer to help her out.

For more information about Faithful Meals in Motion, visit https://faithfulmim14.wixsite.com/faithfulmeals.

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