It’s the last Saturday in February and time for Joy Fellowship’s monthly food giveaway. It’s the outreach ministry’s way of helping people that struggle putting food on the table, especially at the end of each month.
After 30 minutes into the scheduled start time of 10 a.m. a white SUV turns into the parking lot and slowly winds its way around the directional cones where coordinator Theresa Burns is waiting.
Where is everyone? Is food insecurity not a concern in Bladen County? Did people not know about the giveaway because the sign placed alongside N.C. 87 outside of Tar Heel had been blown away by strong winds?
No, that’s not it.
The reason the vehicle line had dwindled to one after such a short time is the announced starting time of the giveaway and the actual starting time of the giveaway are not the same.
“Cars start lining up about 8 a.m.,” Burns said. “When the line gets out to the highway we start giving out the boxes.”
That’s usually around 8:30 a.m., she said.
Joy Fellowship congregation members, in conjunction with Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina, give out between 80 to 100 boxes each month filled with meat along with canned and frozen food. The giveaway continues until all the boxes are gone or until vehicles stop coming.
“We just want to make sure nobody goes hungry,” Burns said. “We feel that people would need more things at the end of the month. That’s why we started it at the end of the month.
“We started about four years ago. It’s grown much larger,” Burns said. “Anyone can come get it. Sometimes someone will call and say they need a box and we’ll meet them down here and give them a box.”
Joy Fellowship accepts what Second Harvest provides and what the church can collect. About a dozen volunteers divide the items into large boxes, then help distribute the boxes. No ID is required to receive a box, although Second Harvest does require some information for each individual.
After the information is collected volunteers such as Edward Darensberg lift the bulky boxes into the vehicles.
On this Saturday morning by 10:30, there were about 10 boxes remaining, volunteers were relaxing, chatting and contemplating how much longer to stay. The long line of cars were long gone.
Until a lone white SUV turned into the parking lot. A few minutes later, two families each had a large box of food to carry home.
“We just want to combat food insecurity,” Burns said. “Everybody needs a helping hand every now and then.”
Joy Fellowship Outreach Ministry is located at 18336 NC 87 West, Tar Heel. The phone number is 910-862-3440.
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