MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – Every third Saturday, New Beginnings volunteers distribute free groceries to the community.
The program which began in 2011, has gone from helping 38 families to helping more than 200 families and feeding more than 600 people a hot meal after.
“Most of our clientele is everybody’s neighbors. The amount that are homeless or on the system is less than 5 percent,” Larry Nowak, Vice President of Faith Outreach Ministries, which oversees New Beginnings said.
Nowak says the amount of people in the community without food is huge, and the flood from Hurricane Florence made the need even greater.
“The vast majority of people are one paycheck from disaster, or have been downsized, lost their job, lost their home in the flood. There are still many flood victims that lost everything trying to figure it out,” Nowak said.
It takes around 100 volunteers to make the monthly distributions work. They come from several different local churches, Coastal Carolina University, and Jr. ROTC programs. Volunteers say it’s important to help the people in the community.
“Personally it’s just been a calling I’ve had. I enjoy helping other people. This became a great opportunity to help all our neighbors,” Nowak said.
To learn more about Faith Outreach Ministries, click here.
