Pantry needs more room to grow

A Grovetown food and clothing mission is expanding.

Bill Campbell, the founder and operator of United We Care, said the pantry's building at the corner of East Robinson and Newmantown roads is getting a little more room and some updates to make the building wheelchair accessible.

"We've run out of room," Campbell said, adding that a construction crew began enclosing the 20-by-30-foot patio at the end of April. Plans are to add another patio outside the converted room. "We just need more space."

The pantry, which Campbell and his wife Angie took over in 1993, provides food, clothing and housewares to needy families in the city and keeps a list of those in need of furniture.

The pantry also holds a large turkey drive before Thanksgiving to make sure families in need have a holiday meal.

Since the mission began, the number of Grovetown families in need has grown, especially with the recent influx of Hispanic families into the city, Campbell said.

"It's getting bigger," he said. "We just got more people."

Campbell said the renovation includes the patios, updating bathrooms and wiring and adding a wheelchair ramp to make the building accessible for him. After an accident last fall, Campbell is paralyzed from the waist down and now uses a wheelchair. After a brief break, he is back running the pantry as best he can.

"It isn't slowing me down a whole lot," Campbell said of his power wheelchair.

Construction is expected to be complete within the next two weeks.

"They've done an awful good job," Campbell said of the construction crew, which is led by James Newman. "It won't be long."