On a beautiful spring day in Mission, SD, the doors to the Tree of Life co-op are wide open to the fresh air, sounds of the birds singing and car doors slamming as folks pull into the parking lot off Highway 18. The Co-op operates on a membership fee of $1.06 per family, per visit, which includes a meal for the family at the Warm Welcome. 

Autumn, a worker at Tree of Life Ministries, welcomes the guests and collects the fee, often a handful of change, as folks sign in. As guests walk past the register they select a gift from the counter, often personal care items, gift items, school supplies, and the food items for distribution.  On this particular day there are cases of soda crackers, sacks of potatoes and onions.  Some days Shakira, the co-op director, has baby food, cookies or cases of water.  It always depends on what has come in on the delivery trucks from the Native American Heritage Association and National Relief Charities.  

Depending on when you look out the door, youngsters are playing on the railings, folks are sitting at the picnic table enjoying their lunch, and the Tree of Life dog is looking for a scratch and petting.  The Co-op is a busy place every day, as many folks find the supplemental food very beneficial in filling out their families food supply at the end of the month, when money is short.  Tree of Life Ministry serves over 200 guests each day at the Co-op and Warm Welcome.

Often there is an abundance of something has brought in by the trucks, such as eight pallets of garden seeds. The seeds are put outside the building during the day so that folks can sort through looking for favorite vegetables and flowers. Photo: The food warehouse receives and quickly distributes donations of any type.

One of the most popular Co-op days was the day there were pallets of Breyers ice cream. The ice cream was delivered a warm day.  Ice cream day was made available first come, first served, take all you can before it was melted. The fork lift is a handy tool at the Co-op. It is in use frequently for unloading trucks and moving the pallets.  A dollar and six cents goes a long way at the Co-op at Tree of Life Ministry. 

Tree of Life is one of the places you go to help meet the 10,000 Hour Miracle Offering. The 2016 Miracle Offering calls for giving 10,000 Hours of service to Dakotas Conference ministries. Each is asked church to identify 10 or more people who will each give 10 hours of their time to one of these ministries in our conference like Tree of Life. Photo: Tree of Life's Warm Welcome is a welcoming sight to many.

Tree of Life Ministry from Dakotas UMC on Vimeo.