The winning act was Fr. Tony Russo and and Fr. Mike Hodges from Our Lady of Consolation with “Soul Man” from The Blues Brothers.

Cedar Springs Librarian Donna Clark and her daughter, Tamar, enjoying the show.

Pastors from various churches in the area showed they not only have talent in the pulpit, they are pretty good at helping raise money as well.

North Kent Community Services (NKCS), a food and clothing pantry that serves struggling families in northern Kent County, held its first “North Kent Pastors’ Got Talent” event last month, and hit a homerun.

They had 10 competing teams from churches in Rockford, Sparta and Cedar Springs who sang, danced, and performed stand-up comedy to a crowd of 480 guests to net more than $66,000 for the non-profit. The entire amount will go towards food and educational programming for their clients.

Pastors Keith and Judy Hemmila from Crossfire Ministries in Cedar Springs hamming it up in the photo booth.

“The event surpassed our expectations. We have incredibly generous people in Kent County; and some truly talented pastors,” said Claire Guisfredi, executive director at NKCS.

The top winning act was Fr. Tony Russo and and Fr. Mike Hodges from Our Lady of Consolation with “Soul Man” from The Blues Brothers. The runner-up winning act was Fr. Mark Peacock from St. Patrick Parnell singing an old family favorite.

North Kent Community Services ministers to hundreds of families in need each year, especially during the holidays. Anyone wishing to donate can visit their website at www.nkcs.org and click “Donate Now.” They can also mail a check to 10075 Northland Drive NE, Rockford, MI 49341.