CHESAPEAKE — Community Mission Outreach has provided food to needy families in eastern Lawrence County for more than 36 years. However, the organization recently recognized a growing need for food delivery services to clients who are disabled, require assistance or have limited access to transportation.

To address the issue, CMO has developed a home delivery program that provides monthly food box deliveries to clients. The program is made possible by a Healthy Communities grant from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington and support from local volunteers and organizations.

“We have a number of needy households that include older clients who may not have neighbors or relatives to pick up food for them at our drive-through pantry,” Dannie Newman, financial secretary at CMO, said. “This group is our focus. We want to make sure they realize there are people who want to reach out to them and who care about them.”

CMO is also partnering with Riverside Recovery Services (RRS), of Chesapeake, to provide transportation and volunteers to deliver food to clients’ homes.
“Working with RRS not only benefits our clients, but those in recovery as well,” Newman said. “A few weeks ago, I was talking with an RRS client who was making food carts at CMO. He told me he had hurt a lot of people in the past, but he feels like his work at CMO gives him a chance to pay back the community for some of the hurt he caused.”

Lawrence County residents who are interested in home delivery food service may contact CMO at 740-867-6628. CMO representatives will meet with clients face-to-face to assist with application completion and to arrange delivery.

For more information, call Dan Newman, CMO financial secretary, at 304-840-8838.