Every week, hundreds of people take more away than spirituality from Covenant Life Christian Church. They take food for their hungry families.

As jobs vanish, Michelle Hensley, pastor Eric Hensley’s wife and leader of the You Are Special food rescue and giveaway ministry, has noticed longer lines and more repeat visitors.

“The social workers who used to tell people about us are in line themselves after losing their jobs,” Hensley said.

You Are Special, the church’s volunteer-driven ministry, has been in operation for six years. It feeds about 1,000 people each week.

Volunteers drive donated vans around Orange County to collect donated food from stores and restaurants. The food, sometimes past its sell-by date but still fresh enough to eat, is stored at the church in donated refrigerators.

The idea for the ministry grew out of Hensley’s days as a single mother, when she and her three sons frequented Hart Park. They gave homeless people in the park new backpacks filled with food from their cupboard. Later, they kept backpacks and snacks in their car, ready to give to needy people anywhere.

With the deepening economic trouble, a wider variety of people have sought help from the ministry, Hensley said.

Ramon Arredondo was a first-time visitor, having heard about the program from a friend.

“We’ve had engineers,” she said. “Literally, people drive up with very nice cars, but they’re cash-strapped. They have no way to provide for their family.”

Hensley strives to give each person or family in line three or four days’ worth of food.

Throughout the week, volunteers collect food from Olive Garden, Fresh & Easy, Starbucks, Cravery Bakery, Pizza Hut, Trader Joe’s, Pacific Ranch Market and Gelson’s Market. Google also donates food each week.

As the line forms outside the church on Wednesday mornings, about 25 volunteers of all ages bag the groceries. Each bag includes meat, canned goods, bread, produce and dairy products. To help families maintain a healthy diet, the group tries to include plenty of fresh produce, even handing out donated Nature Made vitamins whenever possible.

 The volunteers give out 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of food per month, but sometimes even more than that.

The giveaway used to take about an hour every week. Now, volunteers begin bagging food at 7 a.m. to be ready for the hundreds of people who brave early-morning rain and cold to feed their families. They usually distribute the last of the food around 11 a.m.

At the heart of the program is the volunteers’ desire to help those less fortunate than them, Hensley said. The giving spirit has rubbed off on many who come for food.

Friends tell friends about the program, and the line grows each week.

Some, like Elaine R. (pictured at the bottom of the story), a mother of four, return every week. The worker’s compensation Elaine’s family receives for her husband’s injury is not enough. She uses her time in line to meet new people and share advice about other food banks she’s found. She even re-gifts items she won’t be able to use, like the abundance of hot chocolate she recently received from Second Harvest.

“I know what it’s like to be poor,” Elaine said. “It’s not a good feeling. Nobody should have to hurt.”

Covenant Life Christian Church and the You Are Special ministry can be found at 3526 E. Chapman Ave. in Orange or reached by phone at 714-771-2522.

– Jennifer Gish

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