Mission Statement
Our mission at The Salt Mine is to do the work of Jesus. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has called His Church to live in the power of the Spirit and do the work of His Kingdom.
Isaiah 61 says,
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord..."
This passage was given to our founders, Glen and Linda Vance, as a framework for the ministry that was to be done at The Salt Mine. We believe that we are called to do this work for the purpose of furthering the Kingdom of God. When Jesus walked among men, He did this work that Isaiah prophesied. [Luke 4:18-19] We are called to follow and imitate Christ.[Mark 1:17, Luke 14:26-33]This ministry of Christ is the ministry of the Church.
We are called to serve those who are both spiritually and physically in need. This is the mission of The Salt Mine. We fulfill this mission through our food closet, thrift stores, Bible studies, and Church services. We believe that Jesus not only cared for people’s spiritual needs, but also their physical needs (healing the sick, feeding the 5,000, etc...). The only way to truly help a person in need is to help them holistically, that is, in all aspects of their life. That is why we are not just a Church, and not just a charity.
Description
Vine Life Ministries, Inc., a California nonprofit public benefit charity, with a purpose and mission of enhancing and improving the lives of the young people and their families, in the City of Lincoln, California and surrounding communities, hereby directs The Salt Mine, a subsidiary of Vine Life Ministries, Inc., to advance toward this goal by offering children’s programs, youth programs, and adult training and teaching, as well as an aggressive feeding program that provides emergency food for needy families in the target area.
In 2010, The Salt Mine furnished over two million meals to local families, and of this number, sixty-seven percent were for youth and children. The Salt Mine provides a food box for needy families that will feed each person in that particular family three meals a day for a week. Food boxes for emergency needs are limited to one box per month. In addition, The Salt Mine administers the U.S.D.A. distribution program, and low income families can receive two (2) U.S.D.A. distributions each month. In addition to the organized and regulated food program, The Salt Mine offers daily meals to transients and distributes a "truck load of food" on Saturdays on a first-come, first-serve basis.
This work is accomplished at The Salt Mine by an "army" of volunteers from the Community. Each week, our volunteers receive around five thousand pounds of donated food from the community, food we purchase from the Food Bank, and the food we receive from direct contact with food vendors. The volunteers then sort, package, and box the food for needy families. Other workers screen the requests for food and keep records of who receives food and how often.
Funding for The Salt Mine comes from grants, donations from friends of The Salt Mine, and the proceeds from two thrift shops, The Salt Seller and The Salt Mine Thrift Shop, both located in Lincoln.
