Volunteer Stories WNC

I believe that to whom much is given, much is required. We really need to return to the community some of what we’ve been blessed with.

My wife and I have been in Murphy for about three years now. We’ve really come to love the small town feel in western North Carolina where the people are friendly. One of the prerequisites of any place we lived was that there needed to be a pickleball community. It’s a really wonderful pickleball community here. We’re also church folks. We tried the Murphy First United Methodist Church, which is just around the corner from our house, and we quickly became involved.

Big Brothers was something that I hadn’t really thought too much about, but my very good friend John Lachance was involved with it and did projects with the kids, and asked me at some point if I would help him with one. I said I would. I had to go through the process of being approved by Big Brothers and Big Sisters, which was fairly lengthy, and we all can understand why. Once I got involved, they asked me if I would become a Big Brother. There is a big shortage of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, especially in the adult category. They described the young man they had in mind, which was somewhat of an unfortunate story. I said I’d give it a try because I saw there certainly was a need and I felt like it’s not that big of a commitment to try to help be part of the solution to that need. We’ve been matched for a little over a year. I started out as a “school” big where I would meet for an hour a week with a with my “little” at school. Now I’m taking him to play pickleball on a fairly regular basis. I usually attend his sporting events: soccer, track, and baseball. I also go to his band concerts. I support him in the organizations that he’s involved in. That was my opportunity to fill that small need.

My job at Soul Table is dishwasher. Soul Table is what has now become a weekly event of Murphy First United Methodist Church, providing a meal for members of the community. I think one of the main reasons is to provide an opportunity for people to get a wholesome meal while they’re somewhat catered to with real China and silverware. They are our guests. They are greeted and seated, and then their meal and drinks are brought to them. We have a dessert table where they can select their own desserts. It helps with the need in the community to not just provide meals, but to also provide a bit of a social time for the guests. Some of our guests are certainly unhoused and potentially destitute. But, most of them are really looking for an opportunity to sit and talk with people. We try to provide and cater to both of those groups.  As a dishwasher, I’m kind of behind the scenes. I wash the dishes (all of the dishes), I mop the floor and just kind of take care of those kinds of labor needs. I’m not really a cook, certainly not a chef, but I can wash dishes, and I can do that well. So that’s my input for the Soul Table.

This is Appalachia and the income and the needs in this community are fairly significant. I think that the small bit that I can do is needed, and I’m honored, to do it.

–Bruce Peck, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Cherokee County, NC, https://murphyfirstumc.org/soul-table/