Church groups look for community help
Feeding 12 to 15 families on a quarterly basis is a mission the Concerned Citizens of Columbia County have been dedicated to for several years, says Oscar Taylor, the organization's chairman.
"We started our organization in 2000, and we've been feeding families all year long ever since," Taylor said. "We make and take food baskets to people and deliver it to them at their homes.''
Serving families in Appling, Leah and the Phinizy area, the group will be donating more food baskets to families Nov. 20, for Thanksgiving and later in December for Christmas, Taylor said.
It's a community effort that anyone can participate in, he said.
"(Anyone) can donate money, canned goods or anything they like to," he said.
Established as a community-based organization by members from First Mount Carmel Baptist Church, in Thomson, and Walnut Grove Baptist Church, in Appling, Taylor said, the group has more than 60 volunteers.
"We thought we should give something back to the community," he said. "We've all been blessed so much to have stuff and be able to have a roof over our head and food. The organization has always felt if we could do something to help somebody, then that's the right thing to do."
Taylor said another reason the organization was established was because some people were having trouble receiving food.
"Some people would go down to food shelters and (try) to get stuff and they couldn't," he said. "We would get complaints from those in need not getting this and that. So we said 'Why don't we do something as a church and a community organization to fulfill these needs?'"
Going the extra mile to see that those in need receive an adequate amount of help is a part of the group's commitment, Taylor said.
"We try to help and buy stuff for people as much as we can," he said. "We've helped people that were sick that needed to pay a bill or two, and we did that two or three times in a year. It's just a thing that if anybody needs help, we try to help them."
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