Good to Know: Happy Birthday, Dear Grove

By Desiree Parker Sunday, February 21, 2010

This Sunday there’s a special birthday celebration for an organization that’s been doing good in James City County for a decade – Grove Christian Outreach Center.

I stopped by to visit Executive Director Pat McCormick this week, and we talked about what the last 10 years have been like for the center and what she sees for the future.

GCOC started as a vision that Pat’s husband had while delivering mail to the folks in the Grove community, many of whom live below the poverty level  (about 55 percent of students at James River Elementary, across the street from the ministry, qualify for free and reduced lunch. Take out the students who live in Kingsmill, and you have a lot higher percentage).

He and his wife leased the small building off Route 60, and started a small church with a food pantry and clothes closet.

“We didn’t expect it to take us where it did,” Pat says, remembering that time in her life. She’d never been in need herself and wasn’t sure what to expect from her new mission, but now she can’t imagine life any other way.

Now, when you walk into the tiny building that houses the ministry, what you see is wall-to-wall help for the folks in the area. There are neat shelves along every spare wall that hold dry goods and other products – and a total of five freezers and three refrigerators full of perishable food, all of which fly out the door almost as fast as they can get it in.

Since their humble beginnings, GCOC has expanded to offer a monthly USDA food program, the food pantry (which a family can use once a month), a weekly bread day, free meals a few times a week, a clothes closet, a holiday gift program for children, and more.

Last year, GCOC served over 600 families – that’s about half the population of the community. They saw about 175 families last month at the food pantry, and 272 families last month for the bread days. They distributed over 400,000 pounds of food last year alone, and have volunteers from 22 different churches who help them out.

Everyone there is a volunteer, and takes their job completely to heart.

I went to a bread day last year to see for myself, and there was a line of people all the way through the parking lot. People were chatting with each other and the volunteers, and clearly were a close and caring community.

“Seeing God’s hand at work to grow this, it’s the most amazing thing to me,” Pat says. “Our plan was just to have a small church with a pantry and closet – we never envisioned we’d impact the community like this. I never knew there was so great a need – I was clueless.”

Now there is a file full of cards and letters from people thanking the folks at GCOC for what they do. It just takes reading one of those to inspire her for months, Pat says.

“God does this for the people who live here,” she says, choked up with emotion, “and our vision is to show the love of Christ to the people in the community. Our volunteers pour their heart out every day.”

What’s changed over the last ten years, aside from the growth of the ministry? “We have a real sense of community here,” Pat says. “We’re a family. The relationships we have with our clients runs deep, and now they feel safe with us, and they share their thoughts with us.”

The ministry is cramped in their space right now, and full to the brim with food and other items. Pat and other volunteers have to take food home and store it there sometimes, because there’s just no room. They’ve gotten a plot of land nearby, though, and are about ready to get building designs done for a bigger and better GCOC one day not to far from now.

This Sunday, GCOC is having a little birthday celebration for their 10th anniversary. I hope all their wishes come true when they blow out the candles.

They’re always looking for volunteers, and donations. If you want to help – or if you want to go over for a visit to see what they’re all about, visit their Web site for more information.

Some businesses in the community that contribute extra food to GCOC’s programs, just so you know: Trader Joe’s, Food Lion, Bottom Dollar, Pepperidge Farm, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant, Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

Know something that's good to know? Share it with Desiree Parker by emailing her at desiree@wydaily.com.