Some will remember Hurricane Hugo that hit our area in September of 1989. It was the largest Hurricane I ever tried to run from! After we all returned home and cleaned up our own homes, we started reaching out to the community. The newly activated James Island Ministerial group met to form James Island Outreach. The initial goal was to help those who experienced damage from Hugo but were not receiving funds and/or insurance. So, teams from James Island, Charleston and really all around the country were formed to help the underserved. It was soon very evident that much of the damage we were surveying was here long before Hugo hit. So the temporary nature of James Island Outreach grew into an ongoing mission and ministry. After years of rebuild, the corner was turned and we were able to shift our attention from rebuilding homes to helping feed the underserved. So, James Island Outreach became the clearing house for churches, organizations and individuals to help their neighbors. We adopted a slogan that said “Nobody on James Island goes hungry unless we don’t know about them”.
This ministry started small but also started to grow. It outgrew the generous service of Bethany United Methodist Church on Maybank Highway. They housed James Island Outreach for years. Then the ministry grew significantly with the donation of two “mobile home/classroom” buildings by James Island Christian Church. That allowed JIO to really multiply their ministry and the number of families they served.
Now, each month, JIO serves more than 170 households. In 2023 neighbors and friends donated over 219,125 pounds of food; gave out $34,589 to assist 145 households. These funds were used for medicine, housing and utilities.
I want to thank you for being a part of this mission outreach to those in need. You generously give jelly (for those who do not know, we are the official jelly church of James Island). You did such a great job, they asked if we could add pancake syrup to our list! It is amazing to see the amount of love you give. We have volunteers from JIBC who go on a regular basis. They usually let us know if they are low on jelly or syrup! I love the way you reach out to offer support to those in need. Let keep the tradition going: No one on James Island goes to bed hungry unless we don’t know about it.
See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
