This Side Up: Community supports the Belair UMC food pantry

Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

It certainly is true for the Belair Food Pantry.

It all started several years ago, when the Belair United Methodist Church at 8095 Shelly Mullis Road in Indian Land decided to reach out to the community by opening a food pantry. At first, donations came from church members and caring neighbors. As the need grew, so did the donations, and it didn’t take long for the word spread.

This year, the donations for the Christmas campaign have been magnificent. The Boy Scouts collected 6,500 pounds of food. Harrisburg Elementary and Indian Elementary together collected 4,100 cans of food. Other donations came from the ROTC at Indian Land High School, Sun City, Indian Land Action Council and many more. This was a major community effort, and it worked. It worked because people do care.

The food pantry is open on the first and third Thursdays of the month, though it will not be open Jan. 1.

May the feeling of love and peace be with you during Christmas and throughout the New Year. I wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy Hanukkah.

This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This Side Up: Community supports the Belair UMC food pantry."