JONESVILLE — More than 800 needy families — among them 50 families signing up for assistance for the first time — received boxes full of food including meat during the final food distribution of the Christmas season at The Potters Storehouse on Saturday.
The church held its first Christmas season distribution on Dec. 8, distributing boxes of food to more than 850 families. Pastor Don Moore said that the Dec. 8 distribution had depleted the church’s supply of such traditional Christmas fare as ham and turkey. Nevertheless, Moore said that while it might not be able to provide ham and turkey, the church would still see to it that everyone who came to this past Saturday’s distribution would get meat as well as other food.
Moore said Monday the church did just that, once again providing food, including meat, to the more than 800 families needing its help, even though doing so practically wiped out its supply of meat.
“We managed to get meat in every box with the first 280 boxes each having 10 pound bags of chicken,” Moore said. “It was the the first time we were ever down to a few packs of hot dog weenies. That’s all we had left in our freezer after we provided the last family with a box of food.”
Moore said that even though the past two distributions have almost exhausted its supply of meat, the church will have its supply replenished in time for the first distribution of the new year on Jan. 11.
In addition to chicken and other meat, the food boxes provided by the church also included orange juice, cereal, rice, flour, canned goods, pickles, mayonnaise, crackers and chocolate pudding as well as personal hygiene items such as toilet paper.
“All in all they got a pretty good rounded out number of items,” Moore said. “We even distributed toys, both outside in the parking lot and in the church with the help of Santa Claus.”
In what was one of his final pre-Christmas Eve visits, Santa returned to The Potters Storehouse sanctuary on Saturday to once again hear children’s Christmas wishes and hand out toys and other gifts. Santa previously visited the church on Dec. 8 when he made three separate appearances during the day. On Saturday, however, Santa’s increasingly busy schedule at the North Pole getting ready to make his deliveries around the world limited him to only one appearance.
Nevertheless, Moore said the Jolly Old Elf’s presence was welcome as always and he thanked Santa for stopping both times, adding that he is hoping for a return visit during next year’s December distributions.
Moore also thanked those who donated to the church’s food distribution efforts, including the Dollar General distribution center that made a large donation of items for the Christmas events. He said Dollar General continues to be a great supporter of the church’s food distribution efforts and its generosity is greatly appreciated.
There were more than 50 new families to sign up at the church for food assistance Saturday, filling out forms and receiving food vouchers from church members and other volunteers who took part in the event. Moore said this shows that not only is the need for food assistance continuing to grow, but that many people don’t know or have only just learned about the church’s efforts.
“We keep seeing more and more people who need our help,” Moore said. “It just amazes me how many people don’t know we’re doing this and we want to get the word out to those who need our help that we’re here. We’re just glad to be able to serve the people who did get here.”
Anyone who would like to donate to The Potter’s Storehouse can call Moore at (864) 680-3465.
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@heartlandpublications.com.
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