{"id":24080,"date":"2025-03-26T10:46:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T17:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?p=24080"},"modified":"2025-03-26T10:46:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T17:46:56","slug":"ridgefield-umc-expands-backpack-food-program-started-by-church-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/ridgefield-umc-expands-backpack-food-program-started-by-church-member\/","title":{"rendered":"Ridgefield UMC expands backpack food program started by church member"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When Margie Stoner was called in front of the Ridgefield School District Board of Trustees recently, she was shocked and a little bit embarrassed. But for all the right reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A longtime member of Ridgefield United Methodist Church in Ridgefield, Wash., Stoner recently retired from her \u201cvolunteer\u201d role of supplying weekend food bags for low-income students in the Ridgefield School District. And she was honored by the district as one of its best citizen volunteers for the work she started 15 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was shocked,\u201d Stoner said of the honor. \u201cI\u2019m not doing this for me, this is for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With financial support from her church, Stoner spent the last 15 years building relationships with school counselors, going to the grocery store, stuffing the bags and delivering to each school, mostly by herself. She started with eight kids and now the program provides backpacks for more than 90 students.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"335\" data-attachment-id=\"24082\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/margie-stoner-school-board\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?fit=1200%2C578&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,578\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"margie stoner school board\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Margie Stoner, middle with flowers, was recently recognized by the Ridgefield School District for her 15 years of volunteer service with the backpack program she started as a ministry of Ridgefield UMC.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?fit=696%2C335&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=696%2C335&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24082\" style=\"width:523px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=1024%2C493&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=300%2C145&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=768%2C370&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=872%2C420&amp;ssl=1 872w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=696%2C335&amp;ssl=1 696w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?resize=1068%2C514&amp;ssl=1 1068w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/margie-stoner-school-board.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Margie Stoner, middle with flowers, was recently recognized by the Ridgefield School District for her 15 years of volunteer service with the backpack program she started as a ministry of Ridgefield UMC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t stand to think about a hungry child on a weekend,\u201d Stoner said. \u201cIt just gets to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her caseload evolved so rapidly over the years as Ridgefield has grown, too. Located in southwest Washington, Ridgefield has been labeled as one of the fastest growing communities in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it became evident the 82-year-old could no longer take care of this by herself, members of the congregation have stepped in to continue supporting the weekly program and are expanding their efforts. For the first time, students in need will be sent home with a grocery bag full of food to last through spring break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The church is in the process of applying for grant funding to expand to a summer feeding program that will create drop-off locations in the community, said Rev. Dr. JoAnn Schaadt, pastor of Ridgefield UMC. The church works closely with the Ridgefield School District\u2019s Family Resource Center to develop its programs in line with what the actual needs are for students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow the whole church is involved,\u201d Schaadt said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get closer to the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only was Stoner recognized by the school board, but her church held a celebration for her this March where they raised $1,600 and have determined as they move forward, this ministry will be called the Margie Stoner Backpack Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, Stoner shakes off the acknowledgment but is grateful her faith community believes in this ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m super happy it\u2019s going to go on,\u201d she said, and repeated, \u201cI cannot stand to think about a hungry child.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the community of Ridgefield, Wash.,  honors Margie Stoner for 15 years as a community volunteer with a weekend backpack food program, her local congregation &#8211; Ridgefield UMC &#8211; is stepping in to continue to support and expand this feeding ministry for kids in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,16],"tags":[36047,36045,36074,36075,36076],"class_list":{"0":"post-24080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-pacific-northwest-conference","9":"tag-church","10":"tag-gnw","11":"tag-housing","12":"tag-hunger","13":"tag-ministry-priorities"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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