A weekend rally organized by Hands off Haywood commenced with the presentation of a $2,500 check to Haywood Christian Ministries in Waynesville, highlighting a direct link between protest activism and local hunger relief.

Hands off Haywood organizer Mary Ford told the crowd that demonstrators have faced insults and “more middle fingers since March than we have in our entire lives” while taking to the streets on a weekly basis earlier this year but said the group’s focus has remained on democracy and community support.

Waynesville resident Sam Wilds is blind, cannot work, uses her entire Social Security disability check for household bills, has approximately $50 left on her SNAP card for the month of October, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. 

Haywood Christian Ministry’s food infrastructure is moving to a new facility in Bethel.  

HCM’s new food plan aims to ensure equitable food distribution across the county, not just in the population centers.

For more than 50 years, Haywood Christian Ministry has served as a safety net for some of Haywood County’s most vulnerable citizens looking for help with the most basic of needs – rent, heat, medication, clothing, utilities and, perhaps most importantly, nutrition.