Welcome!
Chatham Alliance began with people just having a conversation. Just like we all do. Sharing what’s going on in our lives. Sharing our plans. Sharing what’s new with our families. Sharing our ideas. Laughing. Listening.Talking. Just the casual stuff.
And one of those little sparks of an idea in that conversation caught on and bloomed.
The cook for the St. Bart’s Community Lunch in Pittsboro, purchased a vacuum packaging machine a few years back. And he was eager to try it out. He just happened to share that thought with someone else at his church. It was a spark that lit up another idea. Why not cook up a whole bunch of food and vacuum pack it and give it away to people who are hungry? The packs of food could even be frozen and given away at certain times when people could come pick them up. But at St. Bartholomew’s, the Community Lunch volunteers already had their hands full. What about other churches? They could help. That was the beginning!
The spark blossomed like a firework bursting in the night sky. Some churches were invited to discuss becoming partners. Pittsboro Presbyterian had long been simmering the thought of working with other churches but didn’t have a vision of how to make it happen. That need paired up with vacuum packaging and the idea took off. A member from the Pittsboro church even began expanding on the idea, “We were thinking we could serve folks in the community – not necessarily just folks who are hungry but folks who need some support and who need some love,”
The Alliance Serving Chatham County was born.One of its programs would be the “Chatham Chuckwagon” serving up vacuum packaged meals. A logo was designed for the Chuckwagon. T-shirts made. Cooking happened. Packaging happened. A table and tent set up outside St. Bart’s for distribution of the meals. Word got around and people came by to pick up the packs -- tasty meat dishes cooked up from recipes from each church. Businesses became involved, too -- cooking help, bread and baked goods donated, meat donated. And since that initial spark more churches have made the commitment to help. A total of five.
The vision that started with the little spark wasn’t just a vision for one mission. Last year the growth happened. New missions added – Kids Love Community and Chatham Community Harvest. And, we’re now known as Chatham Alliance.
The growth is good. We’re on our way to being a strong, bright organization supporting our community.
We’re sharing. All are welcome to receive a little spark of love, a little light, a smile, a cookie, a bowl of nutritious food, a meal or two. And all are welcome to help. We are together in this.