Leave it to a TikToker to expose southern churches while many Americans are still struggling financially. One Kentucky woman is going viral as she conducts a social experiment to see which churches are willing to help feed a starving baby.
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Nikalie Monroe, a self-proclaimed left-wing veteran and lesbian, has been calling numerous churches around the country asking if they could help feed the baby. Of course, there’s no real starving baby to help feed, but it’s the recorded responses from the user’s inquiry that has the internet talking. Monroe also is keeping an active list of all the church who offer support and those who don’t.
In the TikToks, she contacts churches as a struggling mother, asking for baby formula to feed her imaginary child. Monroe has made more than 40 videos as part of her experiment. As of the 42nd video, only nine churches have pledged their support– including a mosque, Black churches and a Buddhist temple– while the other 33 have said no. Now, church leaders and many other Americans are weighing in on the conversation Monroe has sparked.
“The fact that black churches, Buddhists, and an Islamic faith center offered help makes perfect sense to me because the oppressed are open hearted people because they know and have lived it,” @StephanieRade18 said on X.
Many people are shocked by how many churches refused to help. “The crazy part for me was these church people actually listening to the sound of a baby crying so loud because it’s starving,” @OhsoHuisman said. “Yes it’s fake and it’s a lie but they didn’t know it. And they still didn’t care.”
According to Census data, 35.9 million Americans lived below the poverty line in 2024. Given the recent government shutdown which resulted in 42 million going without SNAP benefits and hundreds of thousands more being laid off, Monroe’ experiment shined a light on just how vital it is for local communities to step up and serve when needed.
Other folks online defended the churches who didn’t offer help. “I’m a deacon. Yes, we don’t give random strangers money,” @CrisAZelaya tweeted. “We will still consider helping you but we need to know your situation and why you came straight to us and not a food bank or organizations that exist for that very reason.”
“Seems like churches shouldn’t have non-profit status if their help is only for ‘members,’” @Lurker01234 said.
“’The church is not obligated to help the needy’ SINCE WHENNNNNN B***H?????!!!!!???!!” @TheOhEmmDee wrote.
Still, several churches have responded positively to Monroe’s experiment. After a church leader at Heritage Hope Church of God offered immediate help to the woman on TikTok, more than $75,000 has been donated to their food pantry.
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