News

Meadows expresses thanks for the givers

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, 11th District director Wayne King and Jenny Maybin serve plates at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 25, 2015

Mark Meadows scooped a substantial mound of spaghetti onto a paper plate. His district director, Wayne King, ladled on a serving of sweet corn. Field representative Jenny Maybin added the tossed salad.

Few of the diners at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission knew that a United States congressman and his staff were loading their plate in the kitchen of the mission, which was OK. Meadows was not looking for recognition anyway. He was doing the recognizing.
It was Thanksgiving week, a time when people think about the poor a little more than usual. Meadows worked a lunch shift at the mission and packed food a day earlier at Manna Food Bank in Asheville to highlight the acts of charity that go on routinely.
“It’s really about the giving that happens each and every day quietly with no fanfare,” he said. “You get to see the compassion and love so many volunteers have for their fellow man.”
Talking to the mission’s operations manager, Tim Jones, Meadows learned that the 639 Maple Street shelter doesn’t just feed the homeless.
“Toward the end of the month, they’ll see our seniors that have run out of budget money,” he said. “They come in for a hot meal.”
It was one stop where he met constituents who asked nothing from him. The Christian-based Rescue Mission does not take tax dollars.
“There’s no state or federal money,” Meadows said. “Philanthropies and churches are coming together to support the real needs here.”