Put yourself in the shoes of a single, over-70 Orangeburg mother or father: You rent a small house and get a monthly government check for $370. Your unemployed daughter and her two young sons live with you. This is not so unusual a situation anymore.

Your rent, telephone, heating and fuel cost $294 a month. This is not unusual either. What can you do?

Many government and private organizations are helping, but none more than CCMO, a good word to memorize. Along with the Salvation Army, Red Cross and many others, Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg (26 churches) has and is aiding thousands of low-income people. Has been since 1988.

Quite a few don’t have jobs; jobs not being plentiful at present. Many aren’t educated. Many are elderly or ill.

Located on East Russell Street in a building donated rent free by Orangeburg businessman Woodrow Holman, the CCMO opens its doors every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings to the local needy. After standing in a line outside, they file into the big waiting room, which is furnished with donated chairs and benches.

Last Monday, Roy Mikels, board chairman, and Agnes Glover, executive director, arrived, exchanged any new information and passed it on to the half dozen volunteers for the morning. Some come and work all three days. No one at CCMO gets paid, ever. Good people.

Not many organizations begin business like CCMO; they have a devotional, often led by the Rev. W.S. Walker of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church. He read from Paul’s Letter to the Thessalians then led the singing of “Savior, Savior, Hear My Humble Cry ... Do Not Pass Me By.”

Most of those there for help were women, the majority black, a few white. Three brought little children. Each of the 20 first-timers would be called up for an interview on vital facts and personal problems in the next three hours. Returnees would be interviewed too. Agnes Glover and Mrs. Barbara Troy began calling them to their desks one at a time.

First at Mrs. Glover’s desk was a woman in a light blue summer dress. Between 30 and 40, she asked for food, clothes and help on a due light bill of $132. A native of Orangeburg, Mrs. Glover is a New York teaching career veteran. Speaking in a slightly gruff, Lowcountry accent, she espouses humor and serious advice with thorough firmness. Agreeing to food and clothing supplies, she also explained that CCMO’s special fund would cover the power bill.

The second client, wearing a sleeveless pullover, was younger, and expecting. She asked for a stroller and learned she had a good chance at getting one, but not until the baby came. Meanwhile, she might find other help at The Stork’s Nest, a local society that aids new mothers.

The third woman, about 40, had on a short-sleeve knitted pullover. She desperately needed a bed for her grandchildren. Agnes said they had been getting very few beds lately and had none at the moment, but she offered a sleeping bag.

Meanwhile, Pamela Phillips, a retired registered nurse, talked with some of the older clients, took blood pressure tests and gave advice.

Beyond her stood long rows of wide, two-high shelves stacked with women’s slacks and tops, dresses and casual shoes; men’s shirts and pants, underwear and baby clothes. Lady volunteers including Elizabeth Douglas, Barbara Troy and Myrtle Gordon, held forth here showing clients to tables marked with their sizes.

No clothes are bought; all donated by local citizens and institutions that have cleaned out closets. Others come from church drives. The abundance of discarded garments in Orangeburg County is staggering. Large boxes sit waiting until needed. At the far back of the room is a 10-foot pile of king-sized plastic bags holding garments that have been on the shelves but never taken by clients. Either too worn or not sensible for South Carolina, they are headed to more poverty-stricken places such as Afghanistan and Africa.

In the far back is “the pantry.” About 10 by 40 feet, it has every kind of canned meat, vegetable and fruit along with several dozen packaged brands of cereal, rice and pastas. Some is from local warehouses. Much more is picked up at the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia. A non-government organization, HH receives huge shipments of food (most of it free) from companies like Kellog’s, Tyson’s and Castleberry’s.

HH sends out a weekly list of groceries available; CCMO faxes them an order and volunteer Tom Woodruff drives the ministries’ big truck to Columbia to bring the food back to Orangeburg. More volunteers go with him to unload then pack individual boxes for families. For a family of four, the cardboard box contains cans of milk, apple juice, string beans, packages of noodles, rice, a bag of fresh Irish potatoes and more. If circumstances haven’t improved after six weeks, the families can get another box.

Roy Mikels says their volunteers, including himself, get a strong feeling of satisfaction in helping so many underprivileged neighbors. About 80 percent of them never finish high school; a few never had any schooling.

At the same time the staff remains wary of those who might be making a game out of collecting from other food banks, being untruthful about their circumstances, and other underhanded acts, most of this to prevent supporting themselves. To detect and stop such subterfuge, CCMO and all the other agencies send lists of clients to the local Red Cross, which sends an all-encompassing list back to them. Cheaters are dismissed.

The Ministries is also active in helping clients with their health and job-finding problems. To be eligible, families must have incomes below the poverty line of $18,400. “Many are,” Roy says. “We serve between 850 and 900 people a year. We can always use more volunteers.”

Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford’s column is titled “Some Edisto stories.” Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.

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