Love Your Neighbor Food and Friendship Ministries

Want to help the local community but don’t know how?

Crozet Baptist Church Love Your Neighbor Ministries (LYN) provides many opportunities for simple, yet effective service to those in our area in need.

Our LYN ministries are ongoing missions and service projects established to serve those in need primarily in western Albemarle County. These ministries are part of our threefold approach to opening doors to Christ to those in the greater Crozet community—worship, connect, and serve. You do not need to be a member of Crozet Baptist to participate—simply contact the church office at 434-823-5171 if you want to help. Here’s an overview of the ministries:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eatMatthew 25:35a
…And who is my neighbor? Luke 10:29b

Food & Friendship

Through the Food & Friendship ministry, we provide grocery staples to approximately 33 families on a regular basis. Twenty-four of these families have children in local public schools who are referred by guidance counselors. The other 9 families are seniors living on fixed incomes. This ministry also provides groceries to walk-ins with immediate short-term needs. CBC has distinctive green bags with a shopping list printed on the side. Volunteers can pick these up the first Sunday of the month and fill them and return them by the following Sunday. If shopping is not your favorite thing, the ministry needs financial support, which is used to buy groceries from Crozet Market, a local business partner of the ministry. Other churches, individuals, and families outside of CBC, and local charities also contribute, making this program a truly community effort. At 6:00 p.m. on the Wednesday after the third Sunday (a quirky “regular” meeting time, but one that best fits our grocery ordering schedule), volunteers meet to pack groceries. Packing usually takes about an hour to ninety minutes and is a lot of fun. These packing sessions offer an opportunity for volunteers to connect with each other while serving and showing our love to our neighbors in need. Please contact the church office if you are interested in volunteering, giving, or know someone who needs groceries.

Back2School Supplies

Back2School collects school supplies based on local school teacher lists, packs them in a backpack, and delivers the filled backpacks to the schools before their scheduled open house night. CBC connects with counselors at local schools to determine need and is grateful to be able meet the needs that are identified each year.

Share the Blessing

Share The Blessing is a Thanksgiving meal ministry that provides a complete meal to families in need of a little extra help during the holiday season. This ministry has been a tremendous relief to so many families over the years. We work with guidance counselors, family support workers, and social workers throughout Western Albemarle County who refer families to the project. Groceries are distributed the weekend before Thanksgiving and are a complete Thanksgiving feast including a family-sized turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac 'n cheese, stuffing, gravy, and pie. In 2019, we served approximately 370 families with 558 bags of groceries.

To help with this ministry for our 2021 season, check back soon.

In 2019, we served
0
families a Thanksgiving meal.
  • Collection Center for Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child

Each fall, we fill shoeboxes to send overseas with Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. Pick up a shoebox at the church, fill it for a girl or boy and return it by mid-November.