To serve the community, the Salvation Army of El Dorado depends on support from the community.
Meet Me at the Court seeks to identify needs in the community in order to help others.
The two organizations met up last week when MMC youth members selected the Salvation Army for their monthly mission project.
On Sept. 16, Veronica Bailey, founder and CEO of MMC, announced the group's September mission project and three days later, 307 canned goods and five other non-perishable food items were delivered to the Salvation Army's headquarters on South Madison Avenue.
Major Joanna Robinson, who co-directs the El Dorado center with husband Major David Robinson, said the delivery could not have come at a better time.
With inflation and rising costs for food, gasoline, utilities, rent etc., Joanna said the demand for assistance has grown and local churches, service agencies and organizations, including the Salvation Army and MMC, are working to meet that demand.
An area in which the Salvation Army is struggling to keep pace with the needs of the community is its food pantry.
"With the cost of food being so high, we're feeding so many families and individuals who come in to get food boxes," Joanna said.
"We can help them once a month but what we give them isn't going to last a month. We hope that we can help them one week and they can go the next week to another agency or another church to get help," she continued.
That's where MMC can step in, said Veronica Bailey, MMC founder and chief executive officer.
Bailey said MMC youth members approached her about donating canned goods to the Salvation Army for their September mission project.
The group was moved to action after having seen a local TV news story about a recent donation in which local company held a food drive and delivered 430 pounds of food to the Salvation Army.
The drive was reportedly coordinated by an employee who had volunteered at the Salvation Army with his family and wanted to help fill some of the empty shelves they saw in the food pantry.
After seeing the report, MMC youth sprang into action.
Bailey said adult members of the group accompanied the youngsters to a local grocery store to collect canned goods on Sept. 18 and several employees from the store packed the food into the bed of Bailey's pickup truck.
"We kept them overnight because we went and picked them up Sunday evening and one of my youth suggested that we cover the bed of the truck with a bedspread overnight and that's what we did," Bailey recalled with a laugh.
The following day, MMC and Salvation Army workers unloaded the pickup truck, using two large hand carts to haul the food inside.
"(David Robinson) took us inside and showed us the shelves that were empty," Bailey said, adding, "It was a great experience to know that we were able to help others."
Even greater, she said, is that MMC youth were hands-on with the mission project and had a chance to see firsthand how vital the donation was to the Salvation Army, thus, the community.
Bailey said David reached out to her the next morning and reported the total number of items that MMC had donated.
Joanna said the Salvation Army typically distributes 560 food boxes for senior citizens, ages 65 and older, each month.
'... every day, we're getting new families that need help'
"On top of that, we help individuals and families who come in, so we probably give out 300, 400 (additional) food boxes every month and every day, we're getting new families who need help," she said.
The size of the food boxes corresponds to the size of the respective families to which they are given and many of the food items that are donated come in bulk sizes.
"The boxes probably last for a week. It depends on the size of the families and how much food they fix for their families," Joanna said.
"We really depend on the community to get food in and every piece of food, as soon as it comes through the door, is given away," she stated further. "That's why our shelves look so bare. We give away every piece of food that we get."
With the holiday season just around the corner, Joanna said the Salvation Army usually sees a spike in donations during the holidays.
She said the Army appreciates the charitable contributions and issued a reminder that needs in the community, particularly for food, are ongoing year-round and the Salvation Army runs its community programs 365 days a year.
"And when school is out for the summer, it gets worse because kids are home every day," Joanna said.
Other local entities, including the El Dorado School District and the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado, have worked to assess and fill that need in the community.
To donate to the Salvation Army of El Dorado, call the center at 870-863-4830 or stop by at 419 S. Madison Ave.
Joanna said some benefactors have gone another route to donate to the food pantry in recent years.
"We've had people to go online and order food and have it delivered to the Salvation Army. We've had some number 10 cans, the big cans we use for feeding the community, delivered," Joanna said.
"We're just thankful for people supporting the Salvation Army. We really depend on the community," she added.
And MMC is happy and willing to oblige, while stressing the importance of giving back, said Bailey.
"I don't want my youth to ever forget that experience because we're blessed and we want to be able to bless others. That's what MMC is about, helping others," she explained.
MMC youth are already preparing for their October mission project.
The group will be handing out "Love Baskets" throughout the community, as they did in July.
Bailey previously said the baskets will be filled with hearty foods that are perfect for cool, crisp fall days to come.
Homemade chili will likely be one of the items that will go into the baskets.
Bailey said MMC is planning its annual chili cook-off and the group has discussed placing submissions into the "Love Baskets" after judging is complete.
More details are forthcoming about the chili cook-off and October mission project.