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HOLCOMB -- Misti and Jon Becker first came across Angel Food Ministries from some friends in Oklahoma who were involved with it through their church.

The Beckers have been wanting to bring Angel Food Ministries, a nonprofit, nondenominational organization dedicated to grocery relief and financial support, to the area but were waiting for the program to travel west. Last May, they checked Angel Food's Web site and found a church in Dodge City was involved with the program. That was close enough for the Beckers to start a local program.

Along with their church, First Baptist Church of Holcomb, they have been handling the program here since about August.

According to Angel Food's site, the program's food comes in a quantity that fits into a medium-sized box and can be purchased for $30 a unit. Each month's menu is different and consists of both fresh and frozen items, with an average collective retail value of $60. A unit typically helps feed a family of four for about a week, or a single senior citizen for about a month. The site states the food is "all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store" -- no secondhand items, damaged or outdated goods, dented cans without labels, day-old bread or produce too ripe.

Food orders and distribution are handled by church host sites, which take the orders around the first part of each month and then turn them in to Angel Food's main office in Monroe, Ga. Currently, a truck delivers the food to the church in Dodge City. The Beckers hope the truck eventually will start delivering to Holcomb's site as the program continues growing.

First Baptist had 72 orders for basic units for this month, with people ordering about 40 to 50 specials also offered each month. The biggest month was December, with 86 basics and at least half the individuals ordering specials.

Jon Becker, who serves as pastor for First Baptist, said that aside from a group in Elkhart traveling to Dodge to pick up food, First Baptist is the only site in the area offering the program. He said residents from Scott City, Lakin and Deerfield have placed food orders with the church.

There are no income restrictions for the program, and anyone can order as long as they can pick up the food from the church. Church members deliver some of the units on a case-by-case basis.

Jon Becker said the idea behind the program isn't to replace all groceries. -- families still have to go to the store for staples, such as milk, bread and other goods -- but rather to supplement a family's food supply with quality, affordable food. Before starting Angel Food, the church would give out food boxes for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but the Beckers saw the need to extend the service more than just twice a year.

Jon Becker said it was difficult getting people to buy into the idea at first, adding people couldn't believe there weren't strings attached to a $30 box of food that would feed a family for about a week.

It's a program the church gets no monetary gain from, with the Beckers simply taking the money for the basic units and specials and then sending all of the proceeds to Angel Food. But the Beckers saw a need in the area for the food service. Misti's a teacher, and Jon's a former one, and both knew there were families and individuals in need of help.

And so far, they've been right.

The program's grown every month, expanding from the first month's order of 19 or so boxes. Misti Becker said there's a solid group of about 15 to 20 church members who volunteer with the program. The Beckers challenged the church this month to buy as many food units as possible to give away. Child members donated $90 for three units of food, and the adults donated enough for 11 units.

With the help of volunteers, the Beckers can assemble about 70 food boxes in a half-hour. Misti Becker, Kambra and Ronnie Becker and Debbie Tidwell stood in the lobby of the church on Saturday to help carry food out to vehicles as people came by to pick it up. They all said the program was a way to fulfill a basic need, with Kambra Becker adding she felt God was leading them to find those in need of help.

March's menu includes varying portions of top sirloin roast, boneless skinless IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) chicken, boneless pork fillet, breaded chicken breast strips, boxed lean beef patties, IQF Chicken Leg Quarters, all-meat bologna, ground turkey, steak-cut french fries, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen green beans, waffles, Borden shelf-stable milk, Blue Bonnet margarine, pork and beans, Marie Callender's soup, macaroni and cheese and one dessert item.

Aside from the main menu, the program offers food specials at an extra cost. March's specials include a family-size grill combo, with thick-cut pork chops, meaty beef ribs, lean hamburger steaks and all-meat bratwurst sausage links; a prime rib steak box; and/or a chicken tender box. Menus are available in Spanish and English.

The Beckers said they're preparing to upgrade the church's Web site to offer the menus online.

For more information, contact the Beckers at the First Baptist Church, 403 Emmanuel Drive in Holcomb, at (620) 277-0858, or visit the church's Web site at www.fbcholcomb.com.