This Friday night, July 30, 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.,
at Clifton United Methodist Church, Clifton, NC,
Ashe Outreach Ministries will have a covered dish dinner
to honor the firefighters who fought the blaze;
and to raise funds and food donations to rebuild this ministry.
You are invited to join the dinner.
If you do, plan to bring a donation of cash or food.
This ministry is so important to so many families in our area.
It is led by Rev. Rob Brooks,
our United Methodist Pastor at Clifton United Methodist Church.
OUT OF THE
ASHES:
ASHE OUTREACH MINISTRY
RESTOCKING, FUNDRAISING AFTER FIRE
In
the shadow of Phoenix Mountain a spirit is rising from the ashes.
Ashe Outreach Ministry (AOM), the food pantry and community mobile
meals program that suffered the loss of its premises to fire last
week, is beginning the process of recovery with the same dedication
that has served Ashe County so faithfully for over 7 years.
Feeding volunteers and staff outside the burned shell that had been
their home in Clifton, AOM Executive Director Rev. Rob Brooks and
Board Chair Rev. Gregg Plott surveyed a scene of both hope and
daunting challenges.
"We need everything," Plott said.
Some deliveries can still be made with no kitchen facilities, and
the Backpack program is setting up again to be ready for the school
year, so "we can always use more volunteers," Plott said.
With so much lost in the fire – “it’s good to take a moment and
grieve”, said Brooks. But all was not lost
thanks to the valiant efforts by Creston, Lansing and Warrensville
volunteer fire departments, whose valiant efforts put out the fire
just short of the pantry. Early the next morning “our volunteers
raised food out of the ashes”, Brooks exclaimed! Last week the
ministry gave away an estimated 25,000 lbs of pantry food that had
survived the blaze and been cleared by Appalachian District Health
for consumption. Brooks called the food
distribution “a blessing in the midst of so many feelings of
disbelief. The miraculous was that no one was in
the building when the fire started. The tangible
can be replaced. But for a county at 16%
unemployment and 21%+ poverty, this unexpected ‘salvaged’ food
distribution in the middle of summer was simply a blessing.
Thanks be to God! Being able to give away
food rallied slumped feelings and kept us on track with our mission”
Brooks mentioned.
AOM’s feeding continues in the new
temporary facility at the Riverview Community Center Gym.
“We received our first food delivery from Second Harvest Food
Bank at Riverview July 14th and the Food Pantry should be
open Monday the 26th 9:00 am” said Plott.
“We can’t thank the folks at Riverview enough for their
spirit of community”.
Before the fire, Ashe Outreach was
delivering 75 hot lunches daily, running a soup kitchen, stocked
pantry items for delivery and pickup, and a BackPack program gave
325 kids a week a nutritious bag of food to take home to their
families.
“When school starts we’ll be ready with
BackPacks filled” Brooks said. Asked to put the hopeful optimism
aside for a moment, the question was posed, what do you need?
“A walk through the building is all it takes to see how much
needs to be replaced – from filling cabinets to fans, printers,
paper, kitchen appliances, freezers, plates, spices…and God, as
always, will provide”.
Ashe Outreach Ministry will host a
fundraising covered dish event at the Clifton United Methodist
Church Friday, July 30 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. "Fire
and EMT personnel will eat for free as a token of our thanks,"
Brooks said. The following Saturday the ministry
will conduct a 'Fire Sale' of donated items in the parking area next
to the Old AOM site from 8 til 2.
"We are thankful and we are hopeful," Brooks said, but we also look
forward to the continued generosity of this community so we can move
on with God's work."
To
Donate, Volunteer or for more information please contact
Rob Brooks @ 977-1377.
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