Man's work fills need, stomachs
Marvin Young sees hope restored in the downtrodden every day. That's what makes his life fulfilled.
Stocking shelves is one on many tasks Marvin Young takes on as administrator of Columbia County Columbia County Cares, an organizatin that provides food to the hungry.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
As administrator of Columbia County Cares - an organization supported by more than 25 churches in Columbia and Richmond counties that distributes food and supplies to the needy of Columbia County - Young sees the work of God every day.
"God puts you in the right place at the right time and this is just one of those things I couldn't do by myself," said Young, administrator of Columbia County Cares since it opened its doors in 1997. "It's here because God wants us to feed his people."
Without Young to oversee the daily tasks of ensuring the food meets Food and Drug Administration regulations, scheduling volunteers to work the pantry, and recruiting additional churches to assist with monetary donations, Columbia County Cares wouldn't be able to serve the nearly 270 families it reaches every month.
"When I took this job, I took it because I felt God had spoken to me," said Young. "AndHe did. God said, 'I give you a smiling face and a loving heart.' I didn't know what I was going to do with it at that time."
As Young closes the doors to the pantry each afternoon, he is overwhelmed by the sense that his day's work has helped others. But he is adamant that the blessings are given back to him twofold.
"Not a day goes by when I leave that I don't feel like I'm the one who's been blessed," he said. "I see hope come back into people and I see light come back into their eyes. It's just a blessing."