By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - A local church is joining an effort to ship boxes of food to needy Iraqi families who may be suffering in the wake of America's liberation of the Middle Eastern country.

HOW TO HELP

The Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon, 801 Drake Road, is distributing boxes so donors can pack food staples for needy Iraqi families. Besides soliciting donors to purchase food, which averages to about $57 worth of staples, the church is also seeking volunteers to aid in the processing and storage of the boxes, which will be shipped when the program ends May 19. For information call 932-4405 or visit the church's Web site and click on "missions" - for more details and a list of the acceptable food staples allowed for packing.

Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon is distributing boxes of a standard size to anyone interested in packing food staples such as flour, sugar, beans, salt, tea and powdered milk. The church, along with Southern Baptist churches across the country, will then arrange the storage and shipment of the packages to Iraq later this month.

"We want the Iraqi people to know that we love them and we want to give them a practical gift that will help their families," said Danny Griffin, minister of missions for Urbancrest. "What's more practical than helping them feed their families?"

Griffin said the church is seeking volunteers to help process the aid boxes.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com