July 19, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            Last week that number was cut to two when Bob Johnson, who owns the South White Street warehouse Operation Harvest operated from, evicted the program for nonpayment of rent.

            And Tri-Area remains the only program that ministers to the poor three days a week every week of the year.

            Because of the troubles at the DuBois Center, the food distribution program was interrupted for several weeks and only has begun helping people recently.

            Jeann Beasley, the director of Operation Harvest, said this week she plans to begin food distribution and other services very soon,

            “We will be back in operation at least by the fifteenth of August,” Beasley said. She would not identify the new location until Friday after she has removed all the equipment and goods from Johnson’s warehouse, but she did say there will be two spaces, one for food distribution and one for offices and a tutoring program.

            Beasley said she provides fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, bread and even sweets at Operation Harvest. “It’s like going to a grocery store.”

            She said the program has been serving between 500 and 600 people a week. Not all the activity has been at the warehouse, Beasley said. “We do a lot of shuttling, and a lot of the programs are offsite.”

            The monthly rent at the warehouse was $1,386, which included property taxes and insurance. Johnson said Beasley had not paid rent since the beginning of the year and has been in arrears a number of times since she began the program three years ago.

            Johnson has recently received $5,600 from the Koinonia Foundation toward this year’s unpaid rent, and in 2005 the foundation paid $12,000 toward the rent.

            Koinonia is also helping both the DuBois food distribution and Tri-Area for the first time this year.

            The DuBois program, which is headed by Glendine King-Jeffreys, is receiving $3,000 in monthly installments. King-Jeffreys said they purchase food from the food bank and receive more from donations and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

            The DuBois program is open two Thursday mornings at the former gym on North Franklin Street. It serves senior citizens on the second Thursday of the month and all other needy people on the fourth Thursday. King-Jeffreys said the program is going very well but could use more donations.

            Tri-Area Ministry received $5,000, again in monthly installments, from Koinonia recently, and the money is being used for purchases at the food bank.

            Tri-Area is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to noon to serve its clients, who number between 400 and 600 each month. It is also open Saturdays from noon to 2 p.m. for donations only.

            Each of the clients is given a bag of groceries and allowed to browse for clothes and other donated items for 10 to 15 minutes. There is no identification check, although people are asked to sign in.

            The need now is for school clothing and supplies for youngsters, board member Dot Hinton said.

            The Tri-Area board, with Bickett Aycock as chairman, meets monthly. Board members stressed Aycock’s careful accounting of all monies received and disbursed. Tri-Area is supported by a number of area churches including St. John’s Episcopal, Rolesville Baptist and Ridgecrest Baptist, among others, along with contributions.

            This week several people have questioned the number of clients Beasley says she serves.

            There are also unconfirmed reports that the board for Operation Harvest has not met for several months.

            On a happier note, chairman Beverly Whisnant reports that the Koinonia Foundation awarded a total of $26,100 in grants this year. In addition to those named above, the grants were:

            -- $5,000 to SouthLight for its afterschool tutorial program at Massey Apartments.

            -- $6,000 in three installments to pay the teachers’ salaries for the summer music camp operated by the W.E.B. DuBois Community Development Corporation.

            -- $,500 to the Helping Horse organization when a horse that can carry a 150-pound rider has been selected

            Koinonia has also allocated $1,000 monthly to help individuals.