What if one of the fastest-growing and most affluent communities in America was also facing a growing food insecurity crisis? In Cary, NC—regularly ranked among the nation’s best places to live—families are increasingly struggling to afford groceries, housing, and everyday essentials. Rising costs have created a reality many people don’t expect: hunger exists here too. That’s where Christ the King Lutheran Church’s Feed the Need initiative comes in.

Since 2018, Christ the King (CTK), Cary, has mobilized its congregation and community around a simple but powerful mission: increase access to food for neighbors experiencing hardship. This is what it looks like to live out the biblical example of feeding the 5,000 found in Matthew 14, where Jesus feeds a crowd of 5,000+ with five loaves of bread and two fish.

What began as a partnership with another grocery chain has evolved into an ongoing collaboration with Food Lion and NeighborUp’s food security program and food pantries. Each year, CTK transforms compassion into action by providing each family in its congregation with $10 and a list of pantry items needed with a simple ask—to multiply it as they are able.

This year, these families purchased over $17,000 in food, essentials, and financial donations to NeighborUp to provide food support directly to local families. Their commitment reflects a deeper focus within the church on addressing food insecurity as an urgent and growing community challenge. This is particularly impactful during the summer because kids are out of school and cannot access food programs through local schools.

But this story is about more than fundraising.

It’s about a congregation recognizing that hunger doesn’t always look the way people expect.

It’s about neighbors stepping up before a crisis becomes a catastrophe.

And it’s about proving that local action can create meaningful change in communities across America. In fact, several local churches in and around Cary, NC are now hosting Feed the Need events with their congregations as well.

As food insecurity continues to rise nationwide—even in communities often perceived as immune—CTK’s Feed the Need offers a hopeful, replicable model in which churches, grocery partners, nonprofits, and everyday people are working together to meet immediate needs while strengthening community connection.

If more congregations knew about this annual event at Christ the King, it may help bring more attention to a reality affecting millions of Americans and inspire communities everywhere to ask: What could happen if we all helped feed the need?

Another benefit of this CTK effort is the way youth are brought into awareness and action to help with food insecurity. This year’s CTK youth volunteer coordinator, Max Spain, shares:

My family has been participating in Feed the Need for a few years now, and it is without a doubt my favorite event at Christ the King. It is amazing to see so many people shopping to help families in need. Since CTK started the event, it has evolved a lot over the years; from more participants to better planning, and even other churches adopting this tradition. All food and supplies that are donated are used to supply the NeighborUp food pantry in Cary. In fact, the food pantry receives more food in that one morning of Feed the Need than from any other food drive the whole year.

This event is also a great way for the youth of Christ the King to get involved in their church and community. Recently, Feed the Need has been partially run by a confirmand as their confirmation project; this year it’s my job to help organize this event. Hopefully this year’s Feed the Need will be the best yet!