ELGIN, S.C. — Ann Pringle and Annette Hammond, twin sisters and co-founders of Blanketing Families have broken barriers in the town, the two were nominated as 2021 Citizens of The Year, making them the first ever African American Women to be voted and nominated.
The duo which serves meals at the town hall every other Wednesday in Elgin said the passion came during COVID when there was a lot of uncertainty so they wanted to give back to the community in some way.
As they began serving and numbers continued to grow of people needing meals, the support and appreciation for them started to grow throughout the town and surrounding areas.
Annette Hammond said, "we got nominated for a citizen of the year as a non-profit organization, that was a first for us,". As they sat down with Mayor Melissa Emmons they would then uncover history was being made. "We started asking questions, so we asked our Mayor and she gave us some history and we found we are the first women of color to lead an organization to get nominated as citizens of the year here in Elgin and it has been an honor, we hope we are doing the community justice," Hammond concluded.
A feeling her twin sister, Pringle is thankful for, "being a black woman but also a woman of Christ and Christ loves us all regardless of our skin color and I am glad to be a part of history,".
As the new year has continued they are also now the first-ever Community Garden in Elgin. Hammond wanted to continue to show support for the area and mentioned when serving people they need items other than non-perishables, which has led to them getting in front of the town council to pitch the garden which was approved.
Hammond is optimistic they will see good things continue to come from the garden, as she adds residents are already dropping off seeds and checking in on the area. The garden also has a prayer circle, benches to have lunch on, and a pathway. They have plans of hosting a community clean-out toward the end of March for anyone interested in helping.