File photo Bishop Darrell Cummings, pastor at Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, shares a smile alongside volunteers and community members who helped brighten the spring holiday Saturday morning at the annual Easter Food Basket Giveaway at the North Wheeling Community Dream Center.

WHEELING – The annual Easter distribution of food at Bethlehem Apostolic Church in North Wheeling has found a new sponsor.

The Health Plan announced it will sponsor the event, set to take place beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at the North Wheeling Community Dream Center.

Meanwhile, the church is hosting a “Stuff the Bus” event from 4-6 p.m. Thursday at the Riesbeck’s in Elm Grove to prepare for the food distribution. Volunteers will be on site to accept food donations and cash contributions for the Easter giveaway

Jeff Knight, president and CEO of The Health Plan, explained the health insurance provider stepped up after learning that Bishop Darrell Cummings and his ministry lost their primary sponsor for the food distribution and was in need of financial help.

“Bishop Cummings and Bethlehem Apostolic Temple have served struggling families across the Ohio Valley for more than three decades, providing food, clothing, and hope to thousands each year. It’s time for the Ohio Valley to help Bishop Cummings and his team in the same way they have helped so many others,” he said.

“Their decades of selfless service deserve our support. We’re proud to partner with them and the Dream Center to keep this vital Easter tradition alive.”

Cummings explained he was approached by Knight after someone at The Health Plan saw a story in the Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register noting the church was without a sponsor for the Easter food distribution. The person suggested the health care provider offer their assistance.

“We have been told they (employees at The Health Plan) are working on it, and we are hopeful,” Cummings said Wednesday. “We believe what they say.

“This will be a great help. With the loss of our main sponsor, we have been using credit cards and our retirement to fund the food distribution.”

Sponsors providing money permit the church to “pay for things right away,” Cummings continued.

“Now we can buy more food, clothes and supplies,” he said. “This is a miracle for Easter for us. We are grateful to God and The Health Plan for helping out. I don’t know if this is a one-time deal or if we have a future. But we’re greatly appreciative. They didn’t have to do it. They’ve become an angel to us.”

The church’s food distribution events typically cost between $10,000 and $12,000, he reported.

“What they are doing will help us a great deal, but it doesn’t cover everything,” Cummings said. “Thank God for all the others who donate. But it covers a major part, for that we are very grateful, grateful, grateful.”

Cummings added the church was also grateful to its past sponsor, Main Street Bank. The bank stepped away from the sponsorship after a change in ownership during the past year.

“We are extremely grateful for what they did for us for close to a decade,” he said.

The church still needs volunteers to help out on Saturday, and donations are still very appreciated, according to Cummings.

“We haven’t reached our goal yet, but with this announcement we are a lot closer and we believe we are going to make it,” Cummings said. “My heart is very, very happy that they reached out to us. Many people care in the Ohio Valley, and that’s what makes the community great.”