Chuck Barger is a long time friend of Crisis Assistance Ministry and the families served here. When it came time to retire from his daily role at Common Market, he found a new way to use his retail skills, stocking Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Free Store with donated items for individuals and families who shop here free-of-charge.

Brendan Coffey is passionate about his community and about the practice of change management. An Enterprise Change Manager with Avid Xchange here in Charlotte, he first got to know Crisis Assistance Ministry as part of an assignment for his MBA program at Queens University of Charlotte.

A member of First Presbyterian Church and former employee of Bank of America, Ruth Ellen transitioned into the Benefits Access Counselor volunteer role almost two years ago. She is an extremely dedicated individual, supporting customers each week. Thus far, Ruth Ellen has worked over 125 hours, assessing customer needs and connecting each one with community resources for which they are eligible.

This team from Piedmont Natural Gas is among thousands who give their time to inspect, prepare, hang and shelve donated goods to ensure more than 80 families each day find essentials. Because shoppers are able to find shoes, clothing, and household goods free-of-charge, they are able to redirect their limited resources to other priorities like food and shelter.

Ruby Laws began volunteering a little over a year ago helping to prepare donated goods for families who shop here free-of-charge. She comes in faithfully every Tuesday and Thursday with her companion. Ruby comes in each day with an enthusiastic, determined spirit, eager to learn and excel at all tasks within this area of the agency.

Kelvin has volunteered as Furniture Bank Customer Service support for 2 years now, learning about the agency through his relationship with Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. He serves faithfully each Saturday assisting customers with shopping and much more. Staff says, “He’s also our go-to guy when we have furniture items that need to be built or repaired!”