Kent United Methodist Church will soon celebrate a milestone of reaching $1 million in donations over 25 years to its emergency assistance program to help people pay rent and utilities.

Known as the Shared Bread Program, the church, 11010 SE 248th St., will celebrate the milestone after its 10 a.m. Sunday, May 4 service.

“We are overjoyed that this program has touched the hearts of our congregation and has reached so many in the greater Kent community,” according to a church press release.

The church began to give away money to local residents about 40 years ago.

“The office administrator at that time, Linda Golden, was using money out of petty cash to help desperate people who came to the church’s door looking for help,” according to the press release. “As more and more people came, Linda and Pastor Dick Boyd set up a program where all the congregation could donate to help community members experiencing a financial crisis.”

Modest amounts were given out by the church in the early years, starting at about $6,000 per year. But over the years donations from the congregation and the community grew to a yearly giveaway of $80,000 to $100,000. In the 25 years of recordkeeping by the church, the donations have amounted to over $1 million.

Shared Bread has received grants from the Renton Community Foundation, the Kent Community Foundation and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Shared Bread was awarded the South King County Award for work in Poverty and Social Justice.

Shared Bread helps residents who reside in the Kent School District, which includes all of Kent and Covington and also parts of Auburn, SeaTac and Renton. Assistance is given for rent and utilities. Recipients include immigrants and refugees, women escaping domestic violence, single-parent households, individuals with serious health conditions, the unemployed, seniors on fixed incomes, and those facing disabilities, among many others.

According to the church website, residents can be helped once within a 12-month period and the amount owed cannot be over $4,000. Residents can call the church to make appointments for receiving money. The church helps about eight residents per week, with three of those for rent payments. The appointments fill up quickly.

In addition to helping with funds, the Shared Bread program has distributed many warm weather clothing items to schools and other organizations in Kent over the past several years. The clothing was a donation from the Seattle-based Campion Foundation.

Shared Bread has coordinated with other emergency assistance programs in Kent and is part of the Emergency Assistance Network headed by the city of Kent’s Human Services Director Lori Guilfoyle.