Ashley Skidmore, Cooperative Christian Ministry (CCM) Food Pantry Coordinator, received an unexpected phone call on Tuesday.
Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) ENACTUS had responded to media reports of the food pantry being in dire straits by conducting a canned food drive for the past several weeks. CCM had no idea LMU ENACTUS was conducting the drive, so the phone call saying there were thousands of cans of food waiting in Harrogate brought Skidmore to tears.
Preliminary counts on Tuesday showed CCM would be getting approximately 2,500 cans of food. When Skidmore and volunteers showed up on Thursday to transport the food to the pantry, they were surprised with the news that there were over 3,000 cans waiting on them.
In a several hour effort, LMU ENACTUS members along with CCM volunteers Samanth Langford, Dr. Phil Hill of Covenant United Methodist Church and David and Kim Carney of the Harrogate Hospital for Animals, loaded the food and transported it to CCM on Thursday evening.
Volunteers also helped on Friday morning to organize the now stocked pantry.
Skidmore and all of the staff at CCM are overwhelmed by the generosity of LMU ENACTUS, the community and all of the volunteers.
“Our operations would cease to exist if it weren’t for the efforts you made on behalf of our program,” said Skidmore. “Words alone cannot repay the debt of gratitude we owe you.”
Among the donations were cans of green beans, corn, peas, soups and ramen noodles.
The next order of business for CCM is to stock the shelves of their hygiene program. Currently, the program is running low on toilet paper, soap, shampoo and detergent.
For more information, contact Skidmore at 606-248-8022 or stop by CCM at 2124 Cumberland Avenue.
Reach Reina P. Cunningham at 606-248-1010, ext. 210, rpcunningham@civitasmedia.com
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