Fort Mill men’s group ‘planting seeds’ one free turkey at a time
Anyone stressing over how to pay for a Christmas turkey can relax.
Just show up at Dewey’s Barber Shop at 109 Steele Street at 1 p.m. Saturday and get one for free – no strings attached.
The give-away is part of an outreach by a local men’s group, F3, which stands for “Fitness, Fellowship and Faith.” One of the leaders, Fort Mill resident Montrio Belton, said the initial intent was to help those in need in the town’s Paradise community, where Dewey’s has become an informal gathering place. However, the collection phase of the outreach went so well, Belton is almost certain the turkey supply will be greater than demand.
“The men of F3 embraced the idea, and I think we probably collected more turkeys than we’ll have people coming to get them,” Belton said.
“So, I don’t care if they’re from Mars. If they can get to Steele Street, most likely we’ll have a turkey to give them.”
Belton, an attorney with a practice in Rock Hill, said the Fort Mill chapter of F3 has about 100 members and there are hundreds more in chapters in Rock Hill, York, the Lake Wylie area and in Lancaster County.
“It’s getting to be a pretty big movement in the bi-county area,” he said. “Our goal is to plant seeds in different communities.”
Increasing diversity within F3 is also one of his goals. Belton, who is African-American, said when he first joined, it didn’t take him long to realize most of the other men were Caucasian.
“I was only one of three (non-Caucasians),” he said.
It also became apparent to Belton that most of the members in his group were in the upper middle and higher income bracket. Paradise is a ripe community for “planting seeds,” he said, because it has a lower median income than much of Fort Mill, which he described as “really mostly affluent” and residents in Paradise are predominately African-American.
“We talk about changing the narrative and many of these men say how they would like to diversify,” Belton said.
“We just want to make a difference and have an impact. If giving someone a turkey means one less thing for them to worry this holiday season, then that’s having an impact.”
To learn more about F3, visit f3nation.com
Michael Harrison: 803-326-4315, @MikeHarrisonFMT
Need assistance?
Any resident of Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Indian Land and Van Wyck who needs assistance with food, paying utility bills, obtaining prescription medication and more, can turn to the Fort Mill Care Center. The Center, at 2760 Old Nation Road, Fort Mill, is open 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For more information about the Fort Mill Care Center, call 803-547-7620 or email staff@fortmillcarecenter.org.
This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Fort Mill men’s group ‘planting seeds’ one free turkey at a time."