Members of local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wards gathered at the Fibrix warehouse on Bucks Industrial Park Drive with a simple goal in mind: Help others in need.
“That’s the purpose of us being on the Earth together, to help one another,” President Kevin J. Holderness said. He is the area president of the Gastonia N.C. Stake. “Those that can help those that can’t, or are in need. Jesus Christ told us to help those in need.”
For the most part, the food came from farms and facilities owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which helps make for more efficient use of the church’s resources.
“Members of the church volunteer hundreds of hours to run these facilities with the intent of storing provisions to help those in times of need,” Sue White said. She is the Stake communication director. “Today’s donation is in direct response to the food crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Disaster is less devastating when you are not alone in recovery. The church drives this mission of compassion with the hope of increasing their reach and impact. Partnering with other organizations expands and strengthens all our efforts. We are stronger together. If we can support the work that these fine organizations are providing, a much greater good can be accomplished than if we tried to do it on our own.”
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The nearly 20,000 pounds of food went to the six nonprofits: The Salvation Army in Gastonia, SOCKS Crisis Ministry in Belmont, Community Relief Organization of Mount Holly, FeedNC in Mooresville, Mooresville/Lake Norman Christian Mission and Hearts and Hands in Huntersville.
The church also sent food to several smaller ones, according to White.
While it was only a dozen or so people from the church on Thursday, she said members from wards that were involved with this disbursement are: Lake Norman, Cornelius, Mooresville, Gastonia, Mountain Island, Huntersville and Belmont. They all played roles in the process.
Open heart, open doors
While the building the distribution took place in normally is focused on manufacturing fibers for many different uses, on Thursday afternoon it was a place for charity.
Darren White, the senior vice president of Fibrix, opened up a corner of the company’s warehouse so the food could be packed and loaded for the nonprofits to pick up.
“We’ve got the space. We’re an active manufacturer, but we’ve got the space available so it just works,” White said. “It was a great opportunity to be of service to others and help make this happen.”
The church was grateful for the hospitality.
“We are very grateful to Fibrix LLC of Statesville who has consistently provided warehouse resources and volunteers so we can accommodate these donations. When we approached Chris Quinney, Statesville plant manager, with this recent request for help, he replied: ‘Our team would be glad to support this great cause by accommodating and assisting with the transfer of these foods,’” Sue White said. “Without their assistance, we would not have been able to receive these commodities for our area. We can’t do everything, but we each can do something. This “something” that Fibrix LLC did for us was The reason we were able to receive these food commodities in our area.”
