Compassion Ministries trucks headed out around 6 am on Saturday Morning, while another group of team members headed for Jellico, TN around 7 am in a torrential down pour. But rain or shine when it's time to serve a community in need the body of Christ shows up to do business for the Kingdom.

The ministries included in this wonderful outreach was of course Compassion Ministries of Cornerstone Church of God along with Pastor Steve McCullar, Mission of Hope Knox, Hope/Stand with Pastor Joey St John, Grace & Glory, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Black Oaks Baptist Church, Choices Resource Center, HopePregnancy, Troy Reid at Matthew 25:35, Greater Grace Ministries, UnitedHealthcare, and the local Health Department. More than 100 volunteers showed up to serve over 600 families. To God be the glory for all that was accomplished!!

We had another wonderful mobile food pantry on Saturday, 17 April 2021, at Jellico High School, Jellico Tennessee. While rain was forecast, it held off and was a beautiful day with lots of smiling faces. Even one year plus since the start of COVID, there are still lots of people suffering from loss of job and poverty. However, there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of joy from the customers and the volunteers. Four-Hundred and Fifty-Five families were given food which represented 1,430+ family members. Our sponsor for this pantry was United Health Care. They did a great job of getting health care info out to the people as they waited in line. We had an abundance of friendly volunteers. One of the best was multiple members of the Campbell County Volunteer Rescue Squad. They assisted our staff in registering the customers and keeping traffic moving smoothly. Besides the regular volunteers from our home church, Cornerstone Church of God in Farragut, we had lots of helpers from Christ Covenant Presbyterian, Pastor Harrold Preyor and several members from Grace and Glory Church, and many from Hope and Stand Church, whose pastor is Joey St. John, also the vice-principal of the high school. Members of the school staff also pitched in to help. Toward the end of the pantry, a glorious treat for the customers arrived in the body of the Reid and Bellas families from Murfreesboro and Springfield TN. They minister on a regular basis to the families of Jellico and had arrived Saturday to hand out treats but found few to no customers there. They heard about our pantry and brought their goods to share with the people at the school. They had fresh hamburgers and hot dogs, baskets filled with candy and other goodies, and had Bibles for all who wanted one. They were such a blessing to the people, and we hope to work with them again in the future.

On Saturday, 10 Oct 2020, Compassion Ministries conducted a mobile food distribution, in the parking lot of the school. While there are still lots of folks being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we had many people tell us, “We really appreciate you coming out and helping our community.”, or “This has been a rough year and just when I thought I had made it, I lost my job and we’ve had a difficult time.” These thankful hearts make this job a true blessing.

At Jellico, we served 441 families, representing more than 1,513 family members, from 10:00 AM-3:00 PM. There was lots of rain just before we began setting up but we only experienced misty rain throughout the day. We worked with the city of Jellico and the school staff to get the word out regarding the pantry. But the ones who probably helped us the most, were multiple members of the Campbell County Volunteer Rescue Squad; they were there from the time we arrived until we closed it down, and helped keep the traffic moving and in some sort of order.

Beside our regular volunteers from Cornerstone Church, we had great help from members from the school staff and Grace & Glory Fellowship. Along with the group from Grace & Glory, was Mr. George Vaughn came along to help. Mr. Vaughn is 87-years old and worked the bread station all day. God has no limits on the age nor the physical ability of volunteers. We will find a position/job for you and we could not do these pantries without the continued assistance of these and many other volunteers.

As we have done since the pandemic first started and to protect our customers (and volunteers) from possible contamination, they arrived in their car, we gained required information, and told them to open their trunk, and drive by the service areas where the volunteer staff loaded food into their trunks.

On Saturday, September 23rd, Compassion Ministries joined with the Principal Miller and his staff in Duff, Tennessee to conduct a Mobile Pantry. Their heart is clearly for the well being of their students and families. Special thanks to the many local volunteers and Grace and Glory church who made it possible.