Little Rock, Arkansas – The Little Rock Compassion Center’s vegetables is farmed from garden to table, supplying hundreds of meals every day.
Mark Hughes, a garden volunteer, aids in overseeing the usage of the harvest.
“We serve salad everyday with it, we serve meals everyday with it, and last night the whole meal was served out of it,” Hughes said.
He claimed to be aware of the daily struggles faced by the clients they serve.
“I went through the drug and alcohol program. I was here for 10 years,” Hughes said.
The garden volunteers claimed that all of them had gone through addiction, homelessness, or starvation, and as a result, they all understood how important it is for their work to alter people’s lives.
“There’s nobody that could walk through this door, that could say you don’t know where I’ve been, because everyone that’s in charge of us, has been through our program,” Hughes said.
Pastor William Holloway, CEO of Compassion Center, is one example of this.
“The reason I started this, as a kid I was homeless and I wanted to give to other people what God had given to me,” Holloway said.
He claimed that their numbers had increased over time and that they now feed about 200 individuals daily and serve 500 to 600 meals.
But he added that he loves to serve people and wants to sow a seed of faith in their hearts for Christ, not merely serve meals.
“One of the things I really love to do is see people accept Christ as their Lord and Savior,” Holloway said.
The same is true for Hughes, who views his daily garden maintenance as a form of service rather than labor.
“I’m not a volunteer, I’m not an employee, I’m a servant, God saved my life, and now I’m giving back,” Hughes said.
Those with a green thumb might check out the Little Rock Compassion Center as they are constantly searching for volunteers.