Feeding Neighbors, Building Community
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
Terry and Connie Geisler, the Southeastern Indiana REMC members behind His Hands Ministry, are feeding families, sharing hope and making sure every guest is welcomed like family.
Before I visited the food pantry in Elrod on a recent Saturday, I sat down with Terry and Connie Geisler to hear their story.
They are the kind of people who are more comfortable doing the work than talking about it. Terry, especially, would rather be behind the wheel of a truck, moving pallets, organizing boxes of produce or helping a family load a cart than receiving recognition. Connie is equally humble, but she knows someone has to tell the story, make the connections and keep people informed about the need.
Together, they operate His Hands Ministry, a self-funded and self-maintained food pantry that is open to anyone. On the Saturday I visited, the pantry served 348 people from all seven counties in SEI REMC’s service territory.
The more I learned about the couple behind the operation, the more I wanted to see it firsthand.
A Calling That Kept Growing
Terry’s path to His Hands Ministry began through earlier work serving people in need of food assistance. Along the way, he built relationships with truck drivers, suppliers and others in the food-distribution world. He saw both the amount of good food that can be available and the number of families who need it.
When that chapter ended, Terry felt strongly that he was still being called to help feed people. Connie encouraged him to follow that calling.
“He’s a big foodie anyway,” Connie said with a smile during our conversation. “Food is his thing, and he wants to make sure everybody has food.”
The ministry began simply, with a borrowed box truck. Terry would fill it with food, park in Versailles near the Rolling Pin restaurant and, with the help of volunteers, bag items and hand them to families as they drove through. Then the need grew.
Connie took on the nonprofit paperwork and created the name and logo for His Hands Ministry. The name reflects how they see the work. They do not view it as something they have built for themselves. They see themselves as stewards, using what has been placed in their hands to serve others.
Now, food comes in on pallets, in large produce boxes and, increasingly, by semi-load. Terry has built a network through word of mouth, Facebook and his willingness to answer the phone, make the drive and help whenever he can.
Sometimes, a truck driver calls because a load has been rejected by a retailer for cosmetic reasons. The food may be fresh and nutritious, but the produce may not be the size or appearance a store wants. Rather than see it thrown away, Terry works to get it into the hands of local families.
That work happens on top of his full-time job changing tractor tires. During the week, Terry is working his regular job, making food pickups, planning for the next distribution, unloading trucks and organizing the pantry. On Saturdays, he is there at the end of the line, quietly watching the operation and offering help where it is needed. He does not say much, but he does not have to. The work speaks for itself.
Terry and Connie are quick to give the credit to God, not themselves. Their faith is woven into everything they do, from the name of the ministry to the way they respond to the needs placed in front of them.
That spirit also extends beyond pantry day. Terry bags nonperishable foods, including granola bars and drinks, to hand out to people experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati. When there is food available, he looks for a way to make sure it reaches someone who can use it.
They give, and then they find another way to give.
A Saturday at the Pantry
On Saturday, before I ever stepped inside the building, I could see what His Hands Ministry meant to the community.
Cars filled the gravel lot. People waited patiently in line, some for an hour or more, no matter the weather. But the mood was not tense or quiet. It was friendly. Neighbors chatted, caught up and helped one another.
That day, the pantry was also collecting bottled drinking water for local flood victims in Metamora. What struck me most was seeing people who had come for food still thinking about someone else’s need. They were receiving help, yet they were also giving what they could to help their neighbors.
At one point, tomatoes slid from the top of a woman’s overflowing cart. People waiting nearby quickly stepped in to gather them.
Those small moments said a lot about the place Terry and Connie have built.
There are no income requirements or questions meant to make anyone prove they deserve help. At the door, Connie welcomes guests alongside volunteer Judy Alford. She asks each family’s size and what county they live in, not to turn anyone away, but to understand where people are coming from and help with future planning and grant-writing opportunities.
Connie was holding a raffle for one of the missions close to her heart, but her attention stayed on the people entering the pantry. Though she was tired after a long morning, her spirit was upbeat and welcoming.
The same could be said for Ralph Stenger, another familiar face at the entrance. He hands each family a yellow cart with a joke, a smile and a way of making people feel immediately at ease. While I was in line, a gentleman asked Ralph, “Are you Terry?” Ralph put on a serious face and replied, “Don’t you ever call me that ever again!”
Then, unable to keep a straight face, he pointed toward Terry and said, in effect, that Terry was the one he meant. Both men laughed.
It was a small exchange, but it captured the feeling of the pantry. Terry’s name carries the warmth of someone people trust. There is an unspoken message from the moment guests arrive: you have come to the right place, and you will be treated like family.
The pantry carefully monitors the number of people entering the warehouse at one time so families can shop without feeling rushed by a line behind them. Some items have quantity limits to ensure there is enough for everyone. Other items, particularly fresh produce, are available for families to take what they need.
Inside, carts are filled with pantry staples like rice, beans, pasta, canned vegetables, applesauce, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, hygiene products, milk, bread, bagels, granola bars and bottled drinks. The freezer section that Saturday included ready-made chili and chicken pot pie filling.
Fresh produce filled the space, including tomatoes, carrots, berries, peppers and cucumbers, much of it looking fresher than what many of us find in a grocery store.
Halfway through the warehouse, I overheard a family looking at their already-full cart. “This is probably already a couple hundred dollars’ worth of groceries,” someone said.
For many working families, that kind of help makes a real difference.
I stood in line with a young couple who both work full-time jobs. The husband had been out of work for three months, putting the family in a difficult place with rent and utilities. As they waited, he recognized several people he worked with. It was a reminder that the need is not limited to one kind of family.
Food and fuel prices have taken a toll this year, and many people who are working hard are still struggling to make ends meet.
Another woman told me she comes every month. She helps care for grandchildren who live with her, and the extra food helps stretch her income. Around her, regular guests greeted each other, shared conversation and caught up with volunteers. There was no judgment in the room, only kindness.
At the end of the line, Terry quietly kept an eye on the flow of the pantry, offering a hand where needed and greeting people with a nod and a soft smile. He had spent the month bringing in food, the week organizing the space and the morning helping make sure the pantry was ready. He was likely exhausted, but there was also a quiet joy in watching people leave with food for their families.
More Than a Food Pantry
Just off Highway 50 in Elrod, the blue Hoosier Hills Water District water tower is a familiar landmark for families making their way to His Hands Ministry. Beneath it sits a donated white-and-red metal building, quiet and easy to miss without knowing where to look. On pantry day, though, the gravel lot fills with cars, box trucks wait outside and people arrive from across southeastern Indiana. The building has garage access for Terry to bring in large pallets and produce boxes, but it has become too small for the work it now supports.
The food pantry ministry is open every third Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.
The pantry also shares updates throughout the month on its Facebook page. When fresh produce or bakery items arrive, Terry and Connie announce the shipment and invite people to stop by the building’s covered porch to pick up items at their convenience. It is another way they make sure food gets to people quickly, especially when a large or unexpected load comes in.
His Hands Ministry needs a climate-controlled space that will allow Terry and Connie to keep local produce fresh longer, safely receive larger shipments and continue growing to meet the need across southeastern Indiana. Semi-loads of food can make an enormous difference, but without adequate climate-controlled storage, fresh food can spoil before it has the chance to reach families.
Terry works hard to ensure as little as possible goes to waste. Food that is no longer suitable for people can still be useful to local farmers with pigs or horses. Cardboard is recycled. Every donation is treated with care.
Much of the equipment that makes the ministry possible has been donated, including trucks, appliances, carts and other supplies. Yet Terry and Connie still cover fuel, insurance, maintenance and countless other costs. They invest their own money, time and physical energy into a work that keeps getting bigger because the need keeps getting bigger.
A Shared Heart for Service
Connie’s heart for service also reaches beyond the pantry.
For years, Connie felt drawn to mission work. That calling eventually led her to El Salvador, where she travels directly to help people in need alongside a group of volunteers. Her work there is especially focused on helping young girls escape situations of abuse and find safer, more stable paths forward.
Through raffles and other fundraising, Connie supports on-site missionaries and helps create opportunities for girls to learn trades, including cosmetology. She also works to meet practical needs and improve living conditions for families she encounters while there. Whether the need is food, housing, safety or a chance to build a career, Connie’s heart is to help people find hope and a way forward.
Terry and Connie have also responded to disaster-relief needs, making multiple trips with donated supplies to families affected by storms. They have helped connect people with clothing, household items and furniture. When someone calls with something to give, they try to find someone who needs it.
But while their giving reaches in many directions, the pantry remains the immediate focus.
As I left Saturday, the line had grown shorter, but people were still waiting. The parking lot was still full. The atmosphere was still warm.
I looked back toward the blue water tower, the landmark that helps guide so many people to this unassuming building in Elrod. Beneath it, Terry and Connie are doing more than distributing food. They are offering relief, dignity and a reminder that no one has to face a difficult season alone.
If you have a connection to available climate-controlled warehouse space, commercial property, storage solutions or resources that could help His Hands Ministry continue its growth, please consider reaching out to Terry and Connie. A stronger space would mean more food saved, more families served and more hope shared across our community.
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Food Pantry Address:
1595 625 E, Milan, IN
