By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–More and more Food Pantry locations for the needy are popping up in Henry County.
Methodist Churches in the county have opened Blessing Boxes for those in need: Henry United Methodist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church are open now, with Blessing Boxes soon to open at Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal and Wiley’s Chapel Churches.
The Atkins-Porter Food Pantry in Paris was the first to open in the county, followed by one which opened recently at Harrelson School in Puryear.
A Little Food Pantry went up Monday at Trinity UMC at 409 N. Wilson Street and is stocked now.
Rev. Emily Muzzall Walker told RadioNWTN that 11 Methodist churches in Henry County have come together “to brainstorm ways to help our members. This past year has been especially hard on so many families with people out of work and having financial troubles. We’ve been giving out food boxes to families, but with so many struggling, we wanted to do more.”
Rev. Walker said church members met with both Mandy McDevitt and Bill Neese from the Atkins-Porter Food Pantry “and we picked their brains on how the A-P Food Pantry started and how they maintain it.”
Trinity Church member David Van Loo built the Pantry at Trinity based on the building plans used for the Atkins-Porter Food Pantry, she said.
A Boy Scout working on his Eagle Scout project will be building the next one to go up, either at Wiley Chapel or Quinn Chapel, and the congregations will help keep all of them stocked and maintained, Rev. Walker said.
In its announcement last week that it had opened a Food Pantry, Henry UMC officials said: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7″
A Facebook page called “Little Pantries of Henry County” has been set up to keep the public informed of the location of the pantries and their needs.
Members at Trinity and Bethesda Churches help install the Food Pantry on Monday. (Trinity UMC photo).
Henry UMC Blessing Box. (Photo by Shannon McFarlin)