Pastor Rodney Coles used to worry that the food he gave away through the Churches Outreach Network wasn’t reaching the right people.
After all, the network never required anyone to prove he or she was in need before grabbing a turkey.
These days, Coles does not worry about it.
“I pray on it,” he said.
His prayers have led the Greenville pastor to Washington. The Churches Outreach Network will give away 17,000 sweet potatoes at Metropolitan AME Zion Church, 102 Martin Luther King Drive, March 2.
“We just want to see the community come together,” Coles said.
Coles has been doing these food giveaways for about seven years. The outreach network appeals to local farmers and grocers for any food that can be spared.
His mother, Washington resident and business owner Iris Spruill, joined the network to collect weekly groceries that she hands out every Saturday at Washington Plaza.
Coles said the need only seems to grow.
“It’s needed more and more and more. It hasn’t stopped,” he said.
The network does ask for names and addresses from those who come for food. It tries to keep some sort of record of those it helps and determine where the need is greatest.
From those lists and his conversations with those at the giveaways, Coles determined Beaufort County could use the outreach. He said there were a lot of Washington and Pantego residents driving to Greenville for the giveaways.
Coles posts upcoming events on the Churches Outreach Network website, www.com2007.org/emergency_food_bank. For more information, call 877-218-4247 or email Coles at ChildofGodChurch@aol.com.