The Miami Gardens-Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church recently teamed up with the Farm Share group for its 14th annual back-to-school community event.

14th Annual Back-to-School Event

As per its Facebook page, the food distribution is set for Saturday, Aug. 6, at the church premises. The church has reportedly been happening for 14 years, every first Saturday of August.

According to the Le Floridien report, in previous iterations of the event, the church and its partners provided food, backpacks, school supplies, and health screenings. Deemed as a family event, it also features many activities for the children, such as bounce houses, balloon art, music, and more.

Multiple sponsors usually support the event.

According to the Chairman of the Deacon Board of the church Bro. Wesley Delerme, the event is the church’s way of assisting parents for the school year and is a way for it to give back to the community.

Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church

The Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church is a church that follows the Great Commission and lives out the Great Commandment. The congregation is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention and follows its Baptist faith and message.

Also known as the “L’Eglise Evangelique Baptiste Bethel,” it is a multicultural Haitian American church that serves the city of Miami, Florida. 

As such, the church was one of the first churches in the area to provide French or Haitian Creole worship, the languages of the Haitian people.

According to the church page, the church can find its roots in the ministry of Haitians that started in the home of Rev. Franck Francois in 1972. Eventually, the ministry grew and received recognition from the Haitian Christian Society.

In 1978, the church was officially renamed to what it is known today after it made its move to Biscayne Boulevard.

Two years after, under the leadership of Rev. St. Louis Felix and his wife Nazette, the church left the Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti in favor of the Southern Baptist Convention in Florida.

Through the pastor, the church found itself in a time of progress and growth.

In 2015, the church celebrated its 40th anniversary. During this time, Reverend Felix transitioned as the pastor emeritus, with Rev. Dr. Keny Felix taking the reins as the senior pastor.

Farm Share

Farm Share is a non-profit food bank that serves Florida. The organization’s mission is to ensure that “no Floridian ever goes hungry and that no food goes to waste.”

Ever since the organization started in 1991, it has worked daily to cover the food-insecure in Florida. 

Over the years, Farm Share has partnered with more than 2,000 pantries, churches, schools, and other institutions throughout Florida to help it in its cause.

Today, it has distributed over 136 million pounds of food all over the counties of Florida.

The organization complies with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies. This means that the organization does not discriminate on any basis when it comes to the people it serves.

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