In Your Community
MUST Meets Needs of Cobb Residents in the Throes of Pandemic MUST Ministries has been serving Cobb and surrounding counties for years. When COVID-19 hit, MUST was there to meet basic needs and more. By Jennifer Morrell
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“Our model is to give MUST Ministries customers parity, not charity,” Rogers says. “We currently have two staff members and two more to hire. We are looking for a part-time cashier and a part-time merchandising associate. Before the pandemic, we had 30 regular volunteers and numerous drop-in volunteers.”
hat originally began as a community outreach of Powder Springs United Methodist Church, Methodists United in Service and Training (now known as MUST) has become a significant provider of food, shelter, workforce development, medical clinic services, and clothing to the Cobb and Cherokee county communities. Over the years, churches throughout the area have become involved in this outreach, and the name was changed to Ministries United in Service and Training. Eventually, MUST incorporated as simply “MUST Ministries.” “MUST addresses the basic needs of individuals, families and children by providing food, shelter, workforce development, medical clinic services, and clothing,” says Chuck Rogers, director of retail operations for the organization. “MUST has facilities in the Cobb and Cherokee counties and Neighborhood Pantries consisting of 39 food pantries embedded in Cobb, Marietta, and Cherokee schools, serving a large number of at-risk children. We have been supplying grocery boxes since March 2016, and this program has served 24,724 people.”
MUST Marketplace A significant initiative of MUST is its Marketplace second-hand clothing store. Located at 1407 Cobb Parkway North in Marietta, the 4,600-square-foot store offers men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, furniture, jewelry, home goods, small appliances, toys, books, sporting goods, and seasonal items. Some items are new from other stores that had overstock. 30
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Managing through a pandemic
In 2013, MUST Marketplace replaced what was a small clothing closet, providing MUST Ministries clients with a retail environment to shop and receive free clothing allotments monthly. Marketplace served 2,888 clients in 2019, plus thousands of public shoppers who enjoy finding a bargain while helping MUST to help others. The Marketplace is funded by the revenue collected from cash-paying customers.
As it turned out, the COVID-19 pandemic was an ideal time for a service-based nonprofit to step up efforts and serve more people than ever. In the first 14 weeks of the pandemic, MUST provided nearly 1 million meals to 53,399 people, distributing summer lunches and grocery boxes, Monday through Friday. “MUST Ministries, has been distributing summer lunch meals to children for 25 years and delivering five-day meal kits to children all summer,” Rogers says. “When Cobb County Schools decided to delay opening until Aug. 17, suddenly there were thousands of summer lunch children who needed lunch meals. MUST has been raising money and gathering volunteer and staff support to extend the program.” Taking care of others is an expensive endeavor. MUST partners with a packaged food company to provide nutritious meals at a cost of $66,000. In addition, the nonprofit is continuing to pay for trucks, fuel, drivers, staff, and other expenses. The organization also donated $25,000 to Marietta City Schools to extend the Seamless Summer Meal Program.
