Pat Beliles says she, “Always has had a strong connection to food,” which began with cooking for her family and later became focused on delivering meals to people in Hopkinsville from the back of her Honda.
Through this ministry of meals, Beliles has discovered and proven that feeding people often is a pathway for making connections and developing relationships with others.
Beliles grew up in Hopkinsville where her family owned and operated Freeman’s Fur Shop on North Main Street for seven decades before it closed in 2004. Her mother, Anne Peace, worked there as a bookkeeper and her uncle Lindsey Freeman was the furrier. Beliles basically grew up at the fur shop, which had customers from across the United States and overseas.
After she was married and had a daughter, Beliles settled into being a stay-at-home mom who enjoyed social activities, such as Junior Auxiliary, and playing “lots of tennis.” She was quite a successful tennis player in those days and has a large collection of tournament trophies. Looking back, she described a feeling that “life was fun.”
Beliles had to give up the enjoyment of playing and winning tennis matches after she suffered a shoulder injury in 1985. When she decided that she needed to find other ways to occupy her time, she took a job at Western State Hospital in 1986. She stayed in the job for nearly 20 years and retired as the hospital’s human resources supervisor in 2005.
During this time Beliles began to think, “This can’t be my life.” She realized, “I had put all my hopes and dreams in things other than God.”
She decided to turn her life over to Christ and set out to accomplish more meaningful goals. She kept hearing the phrase in her head, “taking it to the streets,” and knew that God was giving her clues.
One of her first experiences as a volunteer was in 2011 at Coffee Connection on South Main Street. There she listened to the concerns of homeless individuals and people struggling with sobriety and other obstacles to a productive life. She went to the prayer room at the Fourth Dimension ministry building downtown every week to pray for those in distress and to seek guidance for how to serve others.
Beliles’ belief that food connects people led her to volunteering at Micah’s Mission on North Main Street. For many years, Micah’s Mission prepared and served free lunches at its facility.
After helping out there for a while, Beliles had a vision of operating a food truck to deliver meals from Micah’s Mission to people’s homes. She approached Senior Minister Brad Shuck about her idea, and he was in favor of it.
Starting in 2015, Beliles and her friend, Nina Kay Shearon, became partners in this endeavor. They used Shearon’s Black Yukon SUV to deliver the meals prepared at Micah’s Mission. Shuck wanted them to begin their ministry by taking meals to the Durrett Avenue neighborhood on Tuesdays.
Beliles said that it was a slow process gaining the trust of those receiving the meals, but “little by little they accepted us.” She explained that people didn’t accept what they were doing until they knew she and Shearon cared. Beliles said that the key to making connections is to be consistent in showing up when you are expected to be there.
Some of her friends and family had concerns about their safety, but Beliles said, “The people embraced us, and we made so many friends.” Many of the meal recipients have invited her into their homes to visit.
As they continued to deliver meals from an SUV, Beliles still held onto her dream of having a food truck. In 2016, she received enough donations from the community to purchase a food truck and one year of insurance for the vehicle. After Shearon returned to work, she received help with deliveries from a variety of volunteers.
At the start, Micah’s Mission prepared about 20 meals for delivery every Tuesday. The number had grown to 200 lunches by the time Micah’s Mission shut down its kitchen in 2020 because of COVID-19.
Beliles knew that she couldn’t quit her food ministry and began using her own Honda CRV to deliver food under the name she adopted, “Mobile Love.” At this point, she also had to take on the tasks of purchasing the food and preparing it for delivery.
Every Wednesday night she assembles 80 bologna and cheese sandwiches. Every Thursday morning, like clockwork, she delivers bags of sandwiches, chips, bottled water, cookies, candy and an assortment of sweets. One of the most popular food items is Vienna sausages.
Through word of mouth, Beliles decides where the needs in the community are greatest. The current route starts along Hazel Street and then moves to 22nd and 23rd streets. She honks her car horn when she arrives and a number of adults come streaming out of their apartments to meet her. A friend, Cindy Rollins, goes along to help Beliles on the first Thursday of each month.
Beliles and Rollins ask how many children live with each person to make sure every child has a sandwich and other goodies from the back of the Honda. One couple who recently came for food said they had been receiving meals from Beliles for about 10 years.
A man named Chris said that he had been getting the meals from Beliles for three months.
“It’s been a blessing all the way around” because “for some people, this might be the only meal they get that day,” he said. “You don’t find many people with a heart to unselfishly give to others.”
Beliles and Rollins knock on several doors on the route and hand the meals to the residents when they come to the door. One of Beliles’ favorite places to stop is at the home of a young boy named Nathan and his family. His mother, Terry, professed that her son “is in love with them.”
“He gets dressed every Thursday and waits for them,” the mother said.
Beliles started bringing meals to the family after Terry saw them on the side of the road and stopped to ask what they were doing.
Beliles’ ministry has continued to grow as many local churches, organizations and individuals have made monetary donations and provide food for the meals. The number of people she serves also has increased. She often runs out of sandwiches before she reaches the other neighborhoods on her usual route.
Beliles has derived deep satisfaction by volunteering her money, time and effort to make sure that her friends and neighbors do not go hungry. Her ministry demonstrates that food truly is a universal language that transcends cultural barriers, making it one of the most effective tools for building relationships.
Happily, in recent years, Beliles has been able to return to a racquet sport as she now plays pickleball nearly every day.
Julia Crenshaw is an attorney at White, White & Crenshaw in Hopkinsville. She lives on a farm in Todd County with her husband John. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.
