SUMTER, S.C. — The Salvation Army of Sumter is calling on the local community to help stock its pantry so it can continue serving Sumter, Lee, and Clarendon Counties
“They do things for everybody and I really, really wanted to help,” Willene Brisbone explained about why she donated.
On Monday, Brisbone dropped off a shopping cart of donations from Mt. Olive AME Church. Brisbone says when she heard the nonprofit’s local chapter was looking for donations, she jumped into action.
“I remember when I was younger, I used to come to them for toys for my kids,” Brisbone remembered about the organization. “Well, they’re grown now and I’ve got grandkids, but God has blessed me.”
“Any little bit counts,” Felicia Blake, a social worker at the organization, shared about donations to keep the food pantry stocked. “Every little bit counts. Every little bit. Whether it's one can to 10 cans, there’s no price, no limit. Just everything counts.”
Right now, the organization is pushing for more donations and is having a nonperishable food drive for the month of March. Maj. John Dancer is a pastor and administrator for the organization who says just a few days ago, the shelves were nearly empty.
“Our pantry was so low that I didn't know where the food was coming to help feed this community,” Dancer shared. “And I'll be honest with you, it keeps me up at night, sometimes four or five in the morning, because my mind won't shut off because I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to help this community and make it a better place and how I'm going to feed the people that need us.”
But now, Dancer says the Sumter community has been showing out to support the food drive.
“They're responding,” Dancer smiled. “And that's why this community is so great, because they are responding.”
Dancer says he’s “moved a lot” in his life for the Salvation Army.
“I've lived in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and Oklahoma in my 62 years of life,” Dancer reflected. “I love the Sumter community. I've been in some communities where we didn't have the same relationship we have here with these folks. I’m just amazed at how giving they are and I probably shouldn’t be. We are in the South after all, right?”
In 2023, the Salvation Army of Sumter said it served 1,323 people, provided 3,365 meals and collected 339 boxes of groceries. It’s an impact Blake wants to keep having on the local area despite inflation.
“I just think right now funding is a big thing for everyone,” she explained. “And, you know, not having the right funding can cause you not to do what you need to do as far as getting food to help people. So that's the biggest thing, not just here, just everywhere.”
“It has to do with the cost of fuel. It has to do with the cost of medicines today,” Dancer said about what he’s seen with the increasing costs. “I’m sure there’s a lot of other people out there in this community who are feeling the same pinch. And they have to choose between getting medicine, they have to choose between food and they shouldn't have to choose between either one of those things. And that's why we need the help from this community so they don’t have to choose between food and medicine.”
If you’d like to donate, you can drop off food boxes at the Sumter office at 16 Kendrick St. from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (except during the hour lunch break starting at noon).