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Published: Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 / Updated: Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009 01:26 PM

Helping others: Volunteers serve meals to Fort Mill's needy families all year 'round

Couple serves hot meals to up to 100 people a week

FORT MILL -- 

Seven turkeys, two pans of dressing, two pans of potatoes and gravy, two pans of sweet potatoes, 14 pies and dozens of loaves of bread were loaded into a cargo truck and the trunk of Mary Baker's SUV on Saturday afternoon.

Minutes later, the cargo truck pulled into a neighborhood near Riverview Elementary School and was surrounded by people looking forward to a hot meal. Baker's SUV traveled to Bozeman Drive and within five minutes people were walking from all ends of the neighborhood towards the car and the hot meals contained within it.

Serving Meals Ministry, a program started by Baker and her husband Jimmy Baker, provides a hot meal to residents in need every Saturday. The couple began serving meals from the truck of their SUV in 2007 and hasn't missed a Saturday yet.

“Before, we didn't have a purpose in our life,” Mary Baker said. “We weren't doing anything for anybody. We didn't have a ministry. So, through a death in our family we kind of woke up. Now we have a purpose. We have so many blessings in our life than we did before and we've made so many friends out there. They are our family. We cry with them, we laugh with them. They are our family.”

The number of people the couple serves has grown, and the ministry has attempted to grow with them. With the help of the donated cargo trailer, which is set up like a kitchen so meals are served easily, the ministry can now visit two locations in Fort Mill each Saturday. The couple has also enlisted the help of local churches to provide volunteers.

Volunteers help cook the meals and serve them, Mary Baker said.

On Saturday, Denise Dunn delivered 14 pies to the Bakers to hand out during the day. It took her the better part of the week to prepare the pies, she said, but she was glad to help.

“I just want to do something for God,” Dunn said. “I serve and I cook.”

The first weekend the Bakers went out into the community offering hot meals, the couple served two people. Now, the number has grown to between 80 to 100 people each Saturday.

With the economy in crisis, the number of people they help continues to rise, she added.

Baker said that she has been shocked at the conditions in which some people live and how badly they need a hot meal. Children are frequently among the folks waiting for a hot meal on Saturday afternoons.

“People might have a house, a shell to live in, but they have no water, no electricity, no kerosene, and no food. And yes, we do have this in Fort Mill, South Carolina,” Baker said. “We have hurting people in Fort Mill. We need a place, a building where these people can find a shelter to run to, where they are safe, not a place to live, but to get a meal and in the winter they can get a coat.”

That's Bakers' holiday wish this year: a shelter to house Serving Meals. Although Baker and her team of volunteers have managed to cook thousands of hot meals over the past two years in their own personal kitchens, a central kitchen and building for storage would allow the ministry to serve more people in the community.

She envisions a spot in downtown Fort Mill for serving hot meals throughout the week. The ministry would continue to deliver meals to people who are shut-ins or lack transportation.

“Our hearts desire is a soup kitchen, a building, for these people to receive education, devotion, child care and even a nurse for blood pressure and minor medical care,” Baker said. “We're praying for a donor for someone to buy us a building.”

Serving Meals is also collecting donations of new toys to distribute before Christmas. Toys can be dropped off at BacInTyme Coffee Café.