Dr. T.R. Harrington believes there’s never been a greater need for the We Care Food Center, which has been in operation since 1987.
Matthew Sasser | Daily Journal
ROCKINGHAM — We Care Food Center faced the highest demand for their service during the pandemic, and is still seeing record demand with dwindling resources and manpower.
“The supply never meets my demand,” said Pastor Bishop Dr. T.R. Harrington of Tabernacle Full Gospel Holiness Church, where the pantry is operated.
In his 35 years of food pantry experience, Harrington said that he has never seen a greater time of need, especially from the elderly, which he estimates is 75% of their clientele.
Harrington said they’re “sitting in the middle” of a high-poverty area on Airport Road, where the only close-by options for food are Edward’s IGA and Family Dollar. He said that he’s had individuals come to him saying they wouldn’t know what to do without the services that the food center provides.
Their biggest limitation at this time is a lack of refrigeration and manpower. Of their five refrigerators, only one is optional at this time, which has limited their ability to provide produce and meat severely.
Harrington said the most common question that they’re asked is if meat is available. More times than not, that answer is no, and that for the first time in his career, they’ve had to turn people away with no food, or as little as two items.
“We don’t have the people in the congregation to maintain the manpower that is needed,” Harrington said, adding that in the past year, two of their stalwart volunteers had passed.
Previously, they were able to deliver items to people who were unable to leave the house. Now, they don’t have enough volunteers to justify the expense.
“There’s so many people in this area that you would just never see,” Harrington said.
The church has faced flooding issues in the past and resurfacing work also needs to be done outside of their facility for a supply unloading area and to make it easier for their drive-thru system.
Harrington said that recent requests for outreach and funding so far have been unsuccessful, and that in many ways, he feels that the center is being neglected. Harrington concluded by saying that there’s never been a greater time of need for community assistance to support the We Care Food Center.
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Reach Matthew Sasser at 910-817-2671 or msasser@www.yourdailyjournal.com. To suggest a correction, email editor@www.yourdailyjournal.com or call 910-817-2673.
