Emerson Crawford for the ACC
This past Sunday, October 9, Emerson Crawford shared a little bit about his experiences at St. Paul’s. Unfortunately, we had some technical issues with our microphone, so many people said they weren’t able to hear him. Here’s a transcript of his remarks:
Hi, I’m Emerson Crawford, one of the parishioners chosen to share with you some facts about my past and present with St. Paul’s.
My wife Kay and I joined St. Paul’s in the late 70’s after a suggestion from a friend that the Rector at St. Paul’s, Pat Houston, was a really unique and interesting minister, and St. Paul’s was a warm and friendly church with and from a long history in downtown Greenville.
The two of us and our daughter were warmly received and made St. Paul’s our worship and religious home and found that, indeed, Pat Houston, was a special person. At that time, because of starting a new, and demanding practice, I did not get involved with too much volunteer work. When I retired, I found myself here a lot… setting up the annual sale in the parish hall, Christmas trees and decorations, and other activities.
One day, our fledgling Food Pantry, started by Ann Harrison, who just passed away, was found to have grown enough to qualify for Federal food distributions known as TEFAP, and because I owned a pickup truck I was one of the three chosen to haul and unload the food. Things sort of snowballed from there and I eventually found myself repairing and modernizing the facility, and then found that I was now responsible for food acquisition, and keeping the shelves in the pantry stocked.
At our peak, we would receive six to eight palates of food from the Federal Food Bank monthly through the TEFAP program, and we would shop three or four times per month at a local grocery filling two pickup trucks each time and spending $2500 or so per month in addition to the TEFAP allotment.
Fortunately, those parishioners who put on the Stone Soup fund raiser substantially supplement the funds for us to operate and provide food for many needy people. Prior to the COVID pandemic, we were serving five or six hundred people per week.
A commitment campaign is not just about money. Support of service that this church offers the community is essential and the biggest problem we have at the Food Pantry is the need for more St. Paul’s parishioners as volunteers. We have the groups that welcome food recipients (we call them clients), those who distribute, those who bag, and those who shop and haul.
If you are interested, talk to any of us as to when and what you can and want to do…Ron Kemp, Roy Carlton, Barbara Moye, David Walton, Craig Quick, or me and we can get you on the list. Of course, Stone Soup always welcomes participants to help and to purchase.
St. Paul’s is a great parish and has numerous opportunities to serve our community, so pick one and join in.