DC Downtown Food Ministries (DCDT) celebrated 10 years of distributing free food, personal care items and baby needs to the community July 17.
The nonprofit organization was created through the fortitude of one very determined woman and the support of Destination Church of Blackshear.
The service organization is the passion project of founder Niki Spivey.
“It was laid on my heart to start a food ministry,” Spivey said recently, “I was called to it.”
Spivey had been attending Destination Church for about a year when she approached church leaders with an idea. She asked for a closet to store groceries to give people in need of support.
Within weeks, the church gave Spivey the keys to 301 Brunel Street in downtown Waycross, far exceeding what she had hoped for.
“The very first time we opened, we served 48 families in the three hours,” Spivey recalled. “I thought that was phenomenal until six months later when we were serving 100 families a night.”
Within two years, the organization was serving 150 families twice a week and very quickly had outgrown its location. Through concentrated fundraising efforts and the generosity of the community, DCDT was able to purchase its present location at 201 Jenkins Street.
The ministry offers items from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. To aid in serving so many twice a week, DCDT was able to buy a deeply discounted forklift and several pallet jacks.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is way different than just grabbing some food out of a closet!” laughed Spivey.
The ministry has two options to receive items. A person can receive two prepackaged food bags, called “house bags,” once a week, or they can make a $5 donation which allows them to select their own items in the storage area.
“That $5 donation is how we pay the freight to bring in the food,” Spivey explained.
DCDT is run entirely by volunteers who are residents of Ware, Pierce and Brantley counties.
“This is a community ministry,” Spivey said. “All you need is a willingness to help. Every volunteer is here because they care about people.
“It’s a community thing, not a church thing, but we do feed you Jesus when you come. That’s why we’re doing this. We’re the hands and feet.”
Before the doors open, volunteers gather for prayer and to greet each other before filling bags and stocking shelves.
The group asserts, “We love God, we love people, we pursue excellence, and we choose joy” before each shift begins. Those are the key requirements to volunteer at DCDT.
Just show up if you want to help. Shoes that cover the entire foot are required because of the moving, lifting and carrying required.
The ministry accepts donations at www.destination- church.org under the giving tab or checks by mail to 2081 Ware Street Extension, Blackshear, 31516. Designate DC Downtown on the check.
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