At ARK Ministry, James and Lynn Dillingham serve food, dignity and hope to neighbors in need.

Before he was a pastor helping feed families in Clermont, James Dillingham knew what it felt like to be the one in need.

“As a young man, in Pittsburgh, I made some very bad choices,” he says. “With a good job and I  still ended up homeless and on the streets of Pittsburgh for a period of time. I experienced what it was like not to have food, not to have shelter.”

That memory never left him.

So now, when people question why ARK Ministry gives out so much food, his answer comes from a place many never have to know firsthand.

“I think about the day someone gave me a dinner of old chicken had seemed like it had been in the fridge for a month and they put it on a plate,” James says. “I had to sit there and eat it because that’s all there was, so I take it very personal when we’re feeding people. When people say we give them too much, I think, ‘What is too much to a person who’s hungry?’”

That question sits at the heart of the work James and his wife, Lynn Dillingham, have quietly carried on for years through ARK Ministry Family Worship Center and its food pantry.

Lynn has been feeding hungry families for 26 years, beginning in Pittsburgh before moving to Clermont in 2011. After volunteering with another pantry, she applied through Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to open one of her own in 2016.

“And so that’s how it started,” she says. “I began to see what I could do about it.”

What she saw was not just unemployment or homelessness, but working families falling short anyway.

“One of the big things I think that struck us the most is we came in contact with so many people who had jobs, yet they could not totally afford to feed their families.”

That reality is one Second Harvest sees across the region every day.

“Most of the people that we’re serving are working class families,” says Dan Samuels, director of philanthropy for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. “They’re one or two adults who are working full-time jobs, some of them multiple jobs, just to try to make ends meet or they’re seniors who are living on a fixed income.”

“In either situation, their income, their jobs, are just not bringing in enough money to make ends meet.”

Second Harvest serves seven Central Florida counties, including Lake, through a network of more than 800 feeding partners, 49 of them in Lake County. According to Samuels, “One in every 8 individuals in central Florida is at risk of going to bed hungry at night.”

 And that statistic, he says, is actually worse for kids.

“It’s one in every 6 kids,” Dan says. “That’s scary.”

At ARK Ministry, those numbers have names and faces.

Lynn thinks about seniors choosing between food and medicine. She thinks about children whose parents are doing their best but still come up short. She thinks about people who are working, but just barely miss the cutoff for assistance.

“They can literally be $5 over,” she says. “I’ve got people who were $10 over or they worked overtime.”

Those are the people who she says “get kind of lost in the cracks.”

That is one reason ARK Ministry does everything they can do to help. 

“The first thing I need to know is that you live in Lake County because that’s where I serve, but nothing very invasive,” she says.

She says that approach helps preserve something that can disappear fast when someone is struggling: dignity.

“I think that’s the big thing,” Lynn says. “You have to make sure they feel that it’s okay, feel comfortable. That they don’t feel like they’re ‘less than’ because they need food.”

The pantry distributes food twice a month, on the second and fourth Monday, using appointments so people can come in small groups, pick up their prepared bags and go. The bags are packed according to family size and often include meat, dry goods, produce and extras for children.

“If I eat chicken, you get chicken,” Lynn says. “If I get hamburgers, you get hamburgers and I give them everything.”

That means families may leave with chicken, ground meat, hot dogs, lunch meat, eggs, yogurt, pizza, spaghetti sauce and more.

“Actually, when they leave me, they have a lot of food,” she says.

And not just the bare minimum, either.

Lynn knows that children need more than nutrition charts and survival.

“A child loves to have a cookie,” she says. “And as much as they love having food, they enjoy a cookie or potato chips once in a while, too. They’re kids,” she says.

For homeless neighbors, the need often looks different. Lynn says many ask first for water, especially in Florida’s heat. Some need food they can eat without cooking. Others need practical items such as tents or sleeping bags.

“And they like the fact that you’re not afraid of them,” she says. “That matters too. People need stuff, but they also need, you know, like human interaction.” 

Lynn says her ministry reflects that belief. Some people come for food and stay to talk. Some walk into Bible study, sit for 10 or 15 minutes, then leave. At ARK Ministry, they are welcomed either way.

Second Harvest cannot make sure food reaches people alone.

“Second harvest cannot be successful without our incredible partners like Ark Ministries and the work that they do every day to serve our neighbors facing hunger,” Dan says. “It really is about partnership.”

The need, he says, is only growing.

“The need is greater than the amount of food and resources out there to fill it,” Dan says. “There is a gap and there has always been a gap and right now that gap is larger than usual.”

For people who want to help, both Second Harvest and ARK Ministry offer ways to do it. Donors can give shelf-stable foods, volunteer time or make financial contributions. Dan says every dollar donated to Second Harvest can provide four meals. Supporters can also hold food drives with items such as peanut butter, jelly, pasta, rice and beans.

People in need of food assistance can visit feedhopenow.org and use the Food Finder tool, which Dan describes as “a Google Maps for food pantries.”

At Christmas, Lynn also runs Mariah’s Angels, a program that provides gifts for children and teens whose families may not be able to afford them. It started after her granddaughter learned some classmates received nothing for Christmas.

“If you’re a child, you should be happy, you should be excited,” Lynn says.

In the end, that may be what makes ARK Ministry stand out most. It is not just a place where people receive food. It is a place where they are seen.

“You have to care,” Lynn says. “No matter what you have, you just have to care.”

Those who want to donate directly to ARK Ministry can call the food bank at 352-329-2451 or the church at 352-321-0543. People can also donate to Second Harvest or countless other food banks and pantries throughout the county.

Photos by Roxanne Brown