About

We drive around in the food-insecure neighborhoods of Lima, much like an ice cream truck. But instead of circus type music, we use a large speaker to blast Buckwheat Boyz’ Peanut Butter Jelly Time song! When someone approaches our van, we hand them a free meal! We concentrate on feeding children, but will not turn away pedestrians, families who come out of homes/cars, or homeless people. When we get rained out or have extra meals then we take our sandwiches to one of many local rescue missions or adult housing centers.

Our sandwiches are all made by volunteers. They pick up peanut butter/jelly/baggy kits from us and purchase 6 loaves of bread to make sandwiches for an evening’s run! Volunteers sign up by calling our Volunteer Coordinator. Because the system is entirely no-contact, it’s convenient for our volunteers to fit time for our community into their lives. They do each step of the process as their own time allows, and so we benefit from volunteers who have time to donate outside of typical nonprofit business hours. We hope to have some “regulars” who sign up often, including many individuals, scout troops, church groups, high school sports teams, high school special education classrooms, and ladies’ groups.

We have established an ongoing relationship with several student groups at Perry Jr. High and High School, who will be regular sandwich making and donation gathering volunteers for our program. We will also sign paperwork for those doing community service through our sandwich-making program. We love to hear stories about how families use this opportunity to teach their children about volunteerism.

History

The seeds of Spread The Love were planted in July 2024, when Pastor Terri Haithcock told a congregation member that she had a desire for Faith Christian Church to develop an impactful community outreach program in the Lima area.

In August 2024, the Pastor and two members of the congregation visited a Peanut Butter and Jelly ministry established by Amy and Brock Parker in Marion, Ohio. The goal was to observe and learn from this already established food delivery ministry in hopes of creating a similar program in Allen County. The three women left Marion with pages of notes and hearts full of plans and excitement!

Within a short time, STL had the church council’s approval to work toward a two month trial period of this project. A delivery van was donated and was adorned with brightly colored logos. Soon, donations were being solicited, public relations materials were being created and group presentations were being given! Volunteers signed up to make sandwiches and drive the van. The support of the Mayor and City Council was sought and received.

On February 7, 2025 the STL van went out on its first delivery run. The bins contained about 65 sandwiches, which were distributed in two different neighborhoods in the 6 th Ward of the City of Lima. As the number of volunteers and donations allow, we will increase the number of meals and/or the number of delivery days.

Donate

In-kind gifts from individuals and groups such as service clubs, health centers, restaurants, and bank donation drives initially powered our startup and continue to be instrumental to our growth. We also have a donation box at our headquarters where people drop items. Our Amazon wish list is an easy way for donors to choose what items they want to donate and then have them shipped directly to us. We hope to continue to meet our budget needs in these ways as well as through community grants and gifts.

Since most of the information about Spread The Love is disseminated through the community by word of mouth, we welcome and encourage referrals for public speaking and presentation opportunities. Please send an email to arrange for one of our directors to present to your club, group or organization.

Bright Ideas

• Have a fund-raiser at work
• Collect donated items at your club or organization meetings
• Invite us to give a group presentation
• Ask for donations in lieu of birthday or holiday gifts