WEBSTER COUNTY, Ky. (1/23/12) - With the help of a lot of friends, a program started by one Sebree man and his family is making a big difference for a lot of people in the area.

Breaking Bread, which meets the third Saturday of each month in Madisonville, provides a hot meal and much needed groceries to those in need.

“We started this program a year ago this month,” said John McCurry, the man who helped start Breaking Bread. “We fed 86 people and didn’t give any groceries away. This is something I felt like I was being called to do.”

McCurry said he wanted to be clear that this program wasn’t sponsored by any one church or individual. It takes all kinds of volunteers and donations to keep things running.

“We buy the groceries,” he said. ‘We didn’t want to take away from where the other local food banks get their food, because there is only so much of that. In my heart, I felt like God had people who wanted to give.”

And give they have, again and again and again. Breaking Bread has progressed from 86 people fed by 26 volunteers the first month, to a record of 258 mouths fed last summer by 111 volunteers. On average they serve between 200 to 220. More than 4,000 individuals have received free groceries in the first year.

“Kevin Cotton (owner of Brother’s Barbecue) takes care of getting the people who prepare the meal that we will serve,” he said. “He knows about food so he takes care of telling those volunteers what they need to do.”

Although he doesn’t want the credit for the program or its success, it was clear that everyone looked to McCurry as their leader.

“I’m just glad to be a part of it,” said Kevin Cotton. “Bro. Johnnie came to us and told me what he felt like we needed to do. We had been going to Nashville to do Bridge Ministries, and he said he felt like we needed something like that here. I didn’t know anything about the ministry part of it, and he didn’t know anything about the food part of it. So we got together and made it happen.”

Those who help at Breaking Bread come from all across the area. They include volunteers from Webster, Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Christian Counties. Many of the volunteers are people who, according to organizers, could be standing on the other side waiting for a meal, but they felt the call to help instead.

“We’ve broken down denominational barriers,” Cotton said. “We’ll have 19 to 20 different churches represented here. No one is pushing any particular church or any particular denomination.”

Much of the groceries handed out on Saturday came from Kentucky State Police Post 2’s Cram-A-Cruiser program.

Anyone wishing to volunteer or in need of assistance from Breaking Bread can find them on Facebook at John McCurry Ministries or online at http://johnmccurryministries.com.

Matt Hughes
J-E News Editor

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