Mt. Olive, H.O.P.E. Project help children in East Winston
Mt. Olive Baptist Church volunteer Calvin Carson, far right, hands out a free lunch to a young lady in the Lakeside community
Photo by Timothy Ramsey
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
Some portions of Eastern Winston-Salem are the most impoverished areas in the entire city. Included in those areas are children in need of food on the weekends.
Mt. Olive Baptist Church, in collaboration with the H.O.P.E. (Help Our People Eat) Project, have started going out each Saturday to deliver free lunches for the children and vegetables for the parents in low-income areas of the eastern part of the city.
The volunteers at Mt. Olive visit areas such as the Cleveland Avenue projects, Rolling Hills and Lakeside, just to name a few. The lunches are healthy alternatives to some of the junk food that many youth tend to lean toward.
The H.O.P.E Project’s mission is to use community-wide volunteer support to prepare and deliver nutritious weekend meals to Forsyth County’s 40,000 children who are at risk for hunger.
Charles M. Gray, grandson of Mt. Olive pastor Dr. Charles E. Gray, says after doing volunteer work with H.O.P.E., he felt he could do more. He reached out to members of the church and they have been delivering meals to local children since earlier this year.
“I started working with H.O.P.E. back in November, helping them pack lunches,” Gray said. “I felt like they needed more help for the kids in eastern Winston-Salem, so I looked into getting the church involved to create more of a relationship with the people in that area of the city.”
Gray says he not only enjoys helping the kids with a meal, but loves the interaction he has with the kids when they go out into the community. He tosses the football and shoots basketball with them whenever possible.
“I think it’s wonderful to help people in the community we are a part of,” Gray continued. “When the kids get a chance to see someone who looks like them reach out to lend a helping hand to them, it improves the relationship between the church and the people.”
The people in the community are appreciative for the meals being delivered by Mt. Olive. Carlice Roberts, who lives in the Rolling Hills community, says the meals and vegetables are a big help to her and the community. She says she really appreciates the generous gesture.
“As being a member of the Rolling Hills community, any assistance provided, we appreciate wholeheartedly,” said Roberts. “People are quick to say that the churches aren’t doing their job, but it depends on what you’re looking for from the church. I feel that the church is doing the work in the body of Christ in its entirety.”
The volunteers from Mt. Olive say they wish to get the name out to the community about the meals that are available and wish to have everyone eventually come to the church to be able to help more people.
