One of the best things about being the editor of a small news outlet like Hoptown Chronicle is watching how this community responds to well-told stories about people who are making a big difference in the lives of others.
Enter Pat Beliles, the subject of an article we ran a few weeks ago by freelancer Julia Crenshaw.
For several years, Pat has been delivering meals to people who could use a little help. It is perhaps the most uncomplicated but impactful ministry I have witnessed in the 40 years I’ve been covering Hopkinsville stories.
Here’s how it works: Every Wednesday evening, Pat makes 80 bologna and cheese sandwiches, and early the next morning she loads the sandwiches in her small SUV, which also carries a large stash of snacks and bottled water. Then she heads out to a few Hopkinsville neighborhoods to offer bags of food to anyone in need.
Pat has done this grassroots work week after week — mostly on her own but with an occasional assist from a church group or individuals who help with supplies.
When our readers learned about her ministry, which she calls Mobile Love, of course they wanted to help.
I wasn’t the only one taken with Pat’s approach to addressing hunger. She goes directly to the need, meeting residents where they live.
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Since the article ran, several readers have sent Pat checks to help with the grocery bill. Others have set up a recurring Amazon order that is delivered to her home. And so many people have stopped her around town to commend her work.
“You never know,” Pat told me this weekend when I called to check in with her. “One little something can spur so many actions and reactions.”
Plenty of strangers have taken notice.
“I’ll go to Walmart and people I don’t even know will say, ‘Oh, I loved that article,’” she said.
Pat hopes that the example of her ministry will spur others to take up this kind of work. Her initiative might be simple, but her aim is expansive.
“My dream is to change Hopkinsville,” she said.
I’m pleased to share that she’s getting some help with that aspiration from our readers.
If you haven’t already read the story, you’ll find it here. And if you want to reach Pat, her email is pbeliles1@bellsouth.net.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
