By J. Lauren Benton
For the Salisbury Post
SALISBURYó Team Chevrolet is giving a ěhelping handî to Rowan Helping Ministries.
On Saturday, the dealership held an auto show and contest where the entire proceedings benefit Rowan Helping Ministries. Kristin Haynes, the event planner, had high hopes for the event.
ěThis is a contestant judgment of an auto show, which means everyone that enters is judging each car,î she said. ěWe are hoping for a good turnout; we had to delay for rain, so not as many people are here, but the last auto show brought in $1,200 which all went to the Helping Ministries.î
Rowan Helping Ministries was founded in 1967 by several of Salisburyís downtown church organizations. It was incorporated as a nonprofit organization on Sept. 18, 1986, and in December of 1989, all programs were relocated to 226 N. Long Street. During the first year, 2,545 volunteers gave more than 54,000 service hours on 50,000 separate occasions. At that time, there were four staff members with an operating budget of $259,552, according to rowanhelpingministries.org.
Today, the budget is more than $2.3 million per year. The programs included are the overnight shelter, soup kitchen, clothing center, food pantry, crisis assistance, transitional housing programs, RHM-West, and New Tomorrows. There is now a full-time staff of 19 and they rely on 30 to 35 volunteers daily.
ěAll proceeds will be benefiting Rowan Helping Ministries,î Haynes said. ěThis is our third time; the previous two were quite successful.î
Tommy Gray, a contestant and judge, liked the 1957 burgundy Chevy Bel-Air.
ěI believe this is a winning car,î Gray said. ěA lot of money and time was put into that automobile, it is definitely a winner.î
Thom Dillard, owner of Team Chevrolet, hosted his first auto show in 1992, but just started to get back into car shows again.
ěPrevious car shows have been extremely successful. We had a rain delay this time, so some car owners had to attend other auto shows elsewhere,î Dillard said. ěBut we are doing this for the community and our sponsors have been great, so we plan for a good time.î
This year, Helping Ministries will serve more than 70,000 meals in the soup kitchen and shelter; they will also distribute over 285,000 pounds of groceries.
To donate to Rowan Helping Ministries, call Judy Ebersole at 704-637-6838, ext. 100. The website at www.rowanhelpingministries.org.