Area Churches Together Serving continues to serve the Aiken community after 35 years

Nov. 24—Most of the names have changed since early 1986 when several local congregations had representatives attend a meeting to consider a cooperative effort to meet local needs.

The needs, however, remain, and so does Area Churches Together Serving, one of the Aiken-Augusta area's most prominent ministries, with emphasis on food, clothing, medical help and utility assistance. Food-distribution efforts occur each month throughout much of Aiken County and slightly beyond, reaching Aiken, Graniteville, Jackson, Wagener, Oakwood-Windsor, New Ellenton and (in Saluda County) Ridge Spring.

"We trust them and the ministry they're doing," said the Rev. Dale Reeves, senior pastor of Matlock Baptist Church in Jackson. "They're like the early church in the Book of Acts. They're meeting needs. It's non-denominational."

Among the organization's enthusiastic backers is Jeanette Fleming, a medical professional whose job was a casualty of COVID-19 cutbacks. Her car was totaled in May, in a wreck, and she got $800 for it, which left her with few transportation options as she tried to get back on her feet in the midst of a pandemic.

ACTS, which currently includes 67 partner churches, arranged for her to receive a free SUV — simple, reliable transportation that enabled her to get back to work.

"It was a blessing that ACTS was there for me, in that particular situation," she said, noting that she uses the vehicle only for her basic needs, since it was offered with that goal in mind.

"They've been there when I needed help to get my prescriptions, or help with my light bill or water bill," she said, referring to her ACTS acquaintances. "I've always been a person who gives to the community, and this time, the community stepped up and they gave to me."

"If you're in need, it's the place to go, and if they can't help you, they'll put you in touch with somebody else that can," Fleming said, after recalling her car-crash crisis from the spring. "I got Thanksgiving in May."

Jennifer Dewitt, another recent ACTS client, made similar comments.

"They're absolutely wonderful ... and they're more than wiling to help people and give you a chance," she said.

ACTS currently has facilities both in Aiken and Graniteville. The Aiken sites are under the same roof but have different addresses, with client services being offered at 349 Park Ave. S.W., and the resale store being at 401 Hayne Ave. The Graniteville site — a relatively new resale store — is at 50 Canal St., a few yards uphill from the post office.

"The community has been very good to us, and we appreciate the partnerships of our churches and donors and corporate partners and foundations and just the community at large," said Suzanne Jackson, executive director of ACTS.

"We're so grateful and blessed that we have the opportunity to serve our clients," she added, citing such challenges as helping clients with rent payments, utility bills and medical bills, reaching far beyond truckloads of groceries that are distributed on a weekly basis.

Much of Aiken County's western edge is served by a similar, slightly older organization: Community Ministry of North Augusta, which dates back to 1984 and has 22 member churches along with "individuals, foundations, corporations, and small businesses from the local community and surrounding area, as described on the CMONA website.

ACTS' outreach extends to the eastern edge of Aiken County, largely through food-distribution programs. Wagener resident Caroline Koveleski confirmed that the outreach includes groceries for dozens of retirement-age neighbors, with free food being distributed from Wagener United Methodist Church on the third Saturday of each month, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Age and income requirements are part of the package.

Much of ACTS' food distribution is with the help of Golden Harvest Food Bank, according to Susan Selden, the food bank's community engagement manager. "We have about 25 partner agencies in Aiken, and they're probably the largest one," she said.

"We are so delighted with our partnership with them ... We work very well together," she said, adding that the food bank's South Carolina outreach also includes Edgefield, McCormick, Barnwell, Allendale and Bamberg counties.

The original meeting that led to ACTS' formation 35 years ago, through an effort begun at First Presbyterian Church of Aiken, included 16 congregations, and 24 came together to start the organization. The current roster of 67 includes some of the area's largest congregations, such as St. John's United Methodist, Second Baptist, Cedar Creek and Millbrook Baptist, and some much smaller neighbors, such as All Saints Anglican and St. Gerard's Catholic.

Some ACTS members, such as St. Thaddeus Episcopal, are almost as old as Aiken itself, and others, such as Cedar Creek and NewSpring, are relative newcomers.