CCM February 2024 Perspective Newsletter

FEBRUARY 2024
PERSPECTIVE
FROM THE FRONTLINES
CRISIS TO RESTORATION
GETTING AHEAD OF
HUNGER
ED HOSACK
CEO
CCM’s Food Program Manager wrote recently “There does not seem [among experts]
to be a recognition that the two areas that are still experiencing inflation - housing
and food, are the areas that impact [most of us] and especially those in poverty. The
rapidly growing number of residents seeking food assistance is simply a symptom of a
much larger crisis - a significant chunk of our population is being left behind. The food
program staff is beginning to brainstorm what changes we are going to have to make
to continue to meet the increasing needs with the
available resources both food and volunteers. We
are just about at capacity for our current model.” It
is almost a certainty; if you leave your house today,
you will come in contact with a life for whom food
insecurity influences every decision.
CCM is looking Beyond the Horizon of our current housing initiatives to
address the social determinants of hunger and food insecurity. We are
grateful for food pantry and hunger fighting initiatives across Cabarrus
and Southern Rowan counties and we intend to leverage our platform
in the community to strengthen many of these initiatives. CCM’s
acquisition of Brown Mill on Cabarrus Avenue in Concord has given life
to the vision for a Community Bulk Food Warehouse (CBFW).
CONTINUED PAGE 2 »
IN THIS EDITION
Did You Know.....................................3
2025 New Horizon
Strategic Plan Updates.................... 4
Partner Spotlight...............................5
Thank You...........................................5
Upcoming Events.............................. 6

The CBFW will support local charitable food
initiatives with the ability to receive large
donations rather than miss the opportunity
due to facility and space limitations. The new
collaborative will create the ability to receive,
store, and share quantities to better serve our
community.
Prevailing economic trends and a shifting
demographic are escalating needs that will
challenge citizens in every corner of our
community. The development of The Rebuilders
Campus and partnerships at The Dream Center
will establish a strong presence of resources and
services in Concord. As CCM prepares for the
end of a forty-year lease at our Crisis Center, we
recognize the need to provide access to services
to vulnerable neighborhoods in northern Cabarrus
and southern Rowan counties.
CCM will pursue collaboration with the city of
Kannapolis to locate crisis services and hunger
fighting operations for vulnerable communities.
During 2024, CCM will initiate the design and
planning for the relocation of our Crisis Services
Center and Food Pantry Warehouse operations to
Kannapolis in the next few years.
In recent years, CCM has worked with key partners
to address nutritional needs of senior adults,
expectant mothers, and families with young
children and we will continue to develop targeted
solutions for specific vulnerable populations.
Collaboration and innovative co-creation will be
vital strategies to create the infrastructure needed
to meet future demand in our community.
Demand at our local food pantries serves as an early warning signal, although not early
enough. In our community today, vulnerable households will satisfy the landlord first.
The shift to corporate property managers has rendered housing a business. “Nothing
personal, it's just business”. You can lose your housing in an unexpected minute! Utility
bills are often juggled with other payments to keep things going, especially during
winter, but the utility companies are more amenable to catching up with payment
plans. Groceries all too often are the greatest compromise. Dad decides to skip meals,
mom tries to be creative with whatever was reduced due to damage or expiration date.
Charitable foods are too often highly processed. The situation lacks nutritional value and
only fuels food insecurities.

JEREMY BURLESON
CHIEF RELATIONSHIP OFFICER
DID YOU
KNOW?
22% OF CABARRUS COUNTY RESIDENTS ARE FOOD INSECURE!
There are many locations in Cabarrus County and the surrounding
areas that provide both healthy produce and other perishable /
non-perishable foods to the hunger insecure.
Through ideation and support from the Cabarrus County Hunger
Task Force group, a ‘Food Resource Map’ was developed and
recently made available to our community. The map itself, while
housed on the Cooperative Christian Ministry website, features
resources from any and all county partners that provide food relief
in any form.
This community-wide resource is a one-stop informational
platform that identifies where and how an individual might
access food pantries, mobile and/or open market offerings, meal
delivery options, prepared meal possibilities as well as blessing
box locations. For any resident that may face transportation
challenges in getting to or from these resources, there is also a
link within the platform that will help with public or ride transit
opportunities.
WE INVITE
YOU TO
ALONGSIDE
PRAY
ENGAGE
&
WITH CCM
CLICK to learn how
CCM has impacted this
community and how YOU
can be part of sharing
God’s love through
partnership and support.
For our Spanish-speaking population, the site itself also has a
conversion option to Spanish located via a dropdown option at
the top of the screen.
HOW IT WORKS
Click the button, scan
the QR code or visit
cooperativeministry.com/
food-resources.
Select the Food Resources
button that best serves
your need.
Click on a specific location
for details on the nearest
food resources to you.

CLICK TO VIEW
the full Strategic Plan
CCM’S STRONG FOOD PROGRAM IS ONLY POSSIBLE THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.
Cabarrus County is distinctive in having a long history of collaboration between non-profits, the faith
community, and government agencies in helping members of the community in need. That legacy of
partnerships continues today, and certainly is evident with the CCM Food Program.
Our single most significant partner is the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (SHFBM) in Charlotte.
About 75% of the food we receive comes directly or indirectly through them. Not only do we receive
the USDA TEFAP food through them (160 tons of food a year!), but they also coordinate all the store
“rescued” food we receive weekly (mostly perishables). Moreover, we are able to purchase bulk food at
wholesale prices through them. They also provide the “backpack” food that we share with several area
schools and all the food distributed through our mobile food pantries.
The families who come to our Food Pantries receive lots of
great fresh-from-the-farm (or garden) produce, because of our
wonderful partnerships with organizations such as The Society
of St. Andrew (SSA-the gleaners), the Lomax Research Farm,
the YMCA’s Share the Harvest Farm, and the community gardens
at Calvary Lutheran Church and Bethpage Presbyterian Church
of Kannapolis. At this time of the year, clients have the option to
receive frozen venison as a result of our partnerships with the
Concord Wildlife Alliance and Farmers & Hunters Feeding the
Hungry.
Other partnerships help us to get food to those in need. About
once or twice a month, we will provide a box of heart-healthy
food for the Community Paramedics to deliver to someone in
need who just got out of the hospital. Last year we piloted a
program of assembling and distributing a box of healthy food
and resources especially for expectant mothers. The Cabarrus
SECOND
HARVESTFOOD
OF METROLINA
PROVIDES
CCM WITH
75%
OF OUR
FOOD
Health Alliance’s clinics, a couple of Atrium Health OB/GYN clinics, and the Gate Pregnancy Centers
collaborated with us in distributing those boxes to pregnant women identified as being food insecure.
Some partnerships work both ways. We have a relationship with Feeding Kannapolis Hunger (FKH), who
in turn works with the Society of St. Andrew and the Piedmont Research Farm to bring pallets of fresh
eggs into our community to be distributed through our pantries, the FKH bi-monthly food giveaways,
and through other food pantries in our region. At the end of each Friday we share any leftover produce
and bakery items with the food programs at St. James the Greater Catholic Church. They in turn will
share with us a lot of excess non-perishables from their pantry. Also, a volunteer from St. James Catholic
brings us rescued bakery items from Publix. Then we will give him #10 cans of veggies and other
commercial-size food items (too large for our pantry families) to take to the Operation Homeless Soup
Kitchen in Kannapolis.
We are grateful to God for each of these relationships and how they help to get food into the homes
of families in need. We appreciate greatly the collaborative nature of our community, and will continue
working hard in fostering that atmosphere. One of our plans is to establish a Community Bulk Food
Warehouse at the Brown Mill site, to provide a place for various partners to store pallets of food
until needed.
BANK

P ARTNER SPOTLIGHT
The CCM Food Program has some amazing partnerships with local food producers, so that we are able
to bless our clients with lots of great fresh-from-the-farm produce, and even some eggs and meat.
In 2023, we received and distributed about 41,000 lbs. of fresh produce and eggs—20.5 tons! Three
quarters of that came through the Society of St. Andrew (SSA)—the gleaners. A partnership between
SSA, CCM, All Saints Episcopal Church and Barbee Farms netted us more than 18,000 lbs. of fresh
produce straight from Barbee Farms (not gleaned!). We are so grateful to Brent Barbee and all the great
volunteers at All Saints who transport the donations, making this incredible program possible. Another
partnership between SSA and the Piedmont Research Farm yielded 3,600 lbs. of eggs. Other significant
fresh produce donors include the Lomax Research Farm, the farmers at the Piedmont Farmers Market on
Winecoff Road, the YMCA’s Share the Harvest Farm, and community gardens at Calvary Lutheran Church
and Bethpage Presbyterian Church. Several local gardeners also will drop off their excess harvest. We
very thankful for each of these wonderful partners who make it possible for our clients to receive the
best in nutritious local food. Some of these partners are seeking volunteers.
The Lomax Research Farm (located outside of Concord off of NC-49) needs
families or individuals to serve one day each week, May-October, to harvest and
prep the produce to be delivered to CCM. Contact Lorie Williams at lwilliams@
cooperativeministry.com or 704-490-4245.
The YMCA’s Share the Harvest Farm is always seeking volunteers to help
manage and harvest the crops. Email farminfo@rocabymca.org, or contact
Debbie Owens at dowens@rocabymca.org or 704-216-9622.
The Society of St. Andrew welcomes volunteers to help glean local produce
and transport to food pantries. Contact Maria Gandy at gleanclt@endhunger.org.
THANK YOU
CCM would like to thank
Cannon School’s Pin Down
Homelessness wrestling
tournament for choosing to
support the mission of CCM
for this impactful event. We
are truly thankful for your
commitment to making a
difference in the lives of
those in need.
COMMUNITY FOOD DRIVES
• Speedway Harley-Davidson - 122 lbs.
• St. James the Greater Catholic - 362 lbs.
• Elevation Concord - 200 hygiene kits
and 200 snack packs
• Fed-Ex Ground - 200 peanut butter
sandwiches
CCM is grateful to the organizers of the MLK Dream Day Fair for inviting
us to participate in the event. It was an honor to be part of such a
meaningful celebration, and we appreciate the opportunity to engage
with the community.
Additionally, we are thrilled to share that, thanks to the generosity of
event attendees, 277 lbs. of food was collected on that day during the
“Stuff the Bus” food drive for our food pantry!

UPCOMING EVENTS
AVAILABLE NOW
2022-2023
ANNUAL REPORT!
WE CAN SHAPE OUR FUTURE
BUSINESS BREAKFAST
MARCH 19, 2024
City Club at Gibson Mill
Doors open at 7:15 AM
7:30 AM Breakfast, 8:00 AM Program
FEATURE PRESENTATION
BEYOND HORIZONS

EXPERTS IN
HUNGER RELIEF
HELP with
HOUSING
HelpWithHousing.net
SENIOR RESOURCE GUIDE
FOOD
RESOURCES
The NEW ‘Cabarrus County
Food Resource Map’, which
was recently created by the
Hunger Task Force, is available
on our website. Please share
this valuable resource with the
community.
Sign up to round up your monthly City of Concord Utility bill to the nearest dollar
and help keep the air, heat, and lights on for hundreds of families in need.
Visit: https://concordnc.gov/Departments/Customer-Care/
Neighbor-Helping-Neighbor
NEW! CCM Career Opportunities
246 Country Club Drive NE, PO Box 1717
Concord, NC 28026 TEL: 704-786-4709
GIVE ONLINE: www.CooperativeMinistry.com or TEXT: ccmhelps to 44321