For Christians, the call of Jesus to Simon Peter to “feed my sheep,” was, among many things, a call to action.

It is a call that has been answered by the Friendly Trio outreach group, a call that will benefit the dozens upon dozens of Sampson County residents who have been without a hot meal.

In fact, it already has.

This past weekend, Brenda Harrington and members of Friendly Trio began what they hope will become a monthly ministry, providing a meal to the needy, the elderly and shut-ins.

Without question, the group’s first try at what they are referring to as a Hot Meals on Wheels program was a huge success, a program that came from the heart and reached the hearts of a community that needed to know someone cared.

Harrington, Friendly Trio president Charles Strickland and the entire volunteer team showed that heart, rolling up their shirtsleeves and whipping up a mess of vittles — either prepared at home or donated by local businesses — that became a feast that fed 130 Saturday.

Meals were prepared and delivered to those who couldn’t get to the Friendly Community Center; others were served up from a buffet line tended to by a group of compassionate volunteers who offered love along with the fried chicken and collard greens they were serving up.

It is these acts of kindness that remind us that we live in a wonderful community where people really do believe it is their responsibility to help those less fortunate than themselves.

What’s more, they act on that belief.

And they do it with such compassion and such willingness to serve, one has to be proud to call a community like ours, with such wonderful people within its boundaries, home.

Harrington and her group have answered a call to action and have responded in a tremendous way. Offering to feed those who have often done without is exactly what we believe Jesus was talking about, at least in part, when he called on others to help their fellow man.

To continue its mission, Harrington and the Friendly Trio will need more hands and more donations.

We hope others will hear the call to action and respond. Doing so will ensure that many in our community won’t go to bed hungry and that others, because of those acts of kindness, might just do their part, understanding that, in truth, we are each our brother’s keeper.