We've had a food pantry and a clothes room for a long time in Maryville, but they haven't been together. The food pantry used to be in the Agape House at the First United Methodist Church and the clothing room was in an old Victorian house on South Market Street across from the First Baptist Church. The building was formerly an auto parts store and had to be remodeled, carpeted and painted. The ministry consists of the food pantry, clothing room and Catholic Charities, a professional counseling service. We get a lot.
People just volunteer to do it.
Atkins said most of the volunteers are church members but the center is a community involvement. Volunteer Jan Corley said the ministry is not just one or two churches helping out, but a whole community working together. Lots of times around the holidays, people will donate money and sometimes they just walk in and hand you a check. That's the way it works. Several Maryville churches provide volunteers for one or two months yearly and many of the churches donate specific food items to the pantry depending on what is needed.