After a long career in retail merchandising and marketing, Joseph Bombara, of Mt. Lebanon, retired from the corporate world, but soon found a different kind of job.

He's working 20 hours a month as volunteer coordinator for a monthly food distribution called the Angel Food Ministries at his church, South Hills Assembly of God Church in Bethel Park.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette At South Hills Assembly of God Church in Bethel Park, Fran Loizes, center right, hugs fellow church member Edith Rice, who was picking up groceries for her daughter last month. The church operates a program called Angel Food Ministries that enables local families to buy large amounts of groceries for $25. At left, church member Steve Newman helps load food items into a box. At right is helper and member Donna D'Amico. Click photo for larger image.

He said the new job is unpaid, but its rewards cannot be measured by money.

"It pays better. The Lord takes care of us," said Mr. Bombara on a recent Saturday, when several hundred people stopped by the church to pick up name-brand food, which is sold at reduced prices as part of the church's ministry in the community.

South Hills Assembly of God, an active church on Bethel Church Road with almost 1,000 members, is one of a growing number of local churches affiliated with Angel Food Ministries, a Georgia-based nonprofit that is providing name-brand food at reduced prices to thousands of families in 32 states.

South Hills Assembly of God works with Angel Food Ministries through its own nonprofit arm, Compassion Connection.

The Rev. Kay Stepp, one of the pastors and executive director of Compassion Connection, said the church joined Angel Food Ministries last fall.

"My brother was doing it at his church in Kansas. He said, 'You might want to be part of this.' "

Angel Food Ministries, based in Monroe, Ga., started out feeding 34 families in 1994 and fed 500,000 families in November 2006, according to its Web site, www.angelfoodministries.org.

Each month, the program offers families an order of grocery items retailing from $42 to $78, for a flat fee of $25.

In addition, families can buy speciality items such as steak or chicken at a reduced price.

Mrs. Stepp said 202 families received reduced-price food last month. Many are not members of the church, but heard about the ministry through word of mouth. There are no income restrictions. The food can be paid for with cash, money orders, cashier's checks or food stamps.

"It is a blessing to people who are low income, but it is also a blessing to people of means," Mrs. Stepp said.

She said one member of the church, Chris Miller, of Jefferson Hills, has been putting together recipes that can be made with the products in each month's distribution box.

Recipients order the food early in the month and pick it up on a designated day.

At last month's pickup day, Jan. 27, about 40 volunteers from the church manned long tables where fresh, frozen and dry foods were distributed.

"They get a lot of meats, fresh produce and eggs," Mrs. Stepp said.

A typical food order will include meats, rice, corn muffin mix, shoestring french fries, vegetables, cereal, a dozen eggs and a pie.

What resonates with Mr. Bombara is the reaction of people who visit the church.

"One woman was in tears. Her husband had just had a heart transplant and there was no money," he said. "The volunteers prayed with her."

"I think it is excellent," said Edith Rice, of Upper St. Clair, who is on the board of Compassion Connection and buys a box of the food for her daughter.

Numerous churches in Western Pennsylvania are engaged in the Angel Food Ministry, which keeps on growing.

In addition to its involvement with Angel Food Ministries, the church also has its own monthly food bank, Mrs. Stepp said.

For more information about the program at South Hills Assembly of God church, call 412-835-8900, ext. 153.