St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Thursday received a gift of 1,700 pounds of food for its Rice and Beans program.

The food was a gift from the Dixie Lily Foods company in Saraland, which packages China Doll rice and beans.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mobile helped coordinate the gift, the Rev. Cindy Howard said.

“This is the second time they’ve helped us,” Howard said. “We are giving away 500 to 600 pounds of rice and beans each month, so this will take us through the first two to three months of the year, depending upon the demand.”

In recent months, the monthly outreach ministry, which provides rice, beans, and other staples, and serves a hot breakfast to constituents, has seen an increase in demand, she said, and last weekend served 185 for breakfast.