Partners in Ministry
Resource and Referral Center
Food Pantry
Community Garden

Partners In Ministry Is A Valuable Community Resource

The Partners In Ministry Community Resource and Referral Center is located on our main campus in East Laurinburg. We exist to connect individuals and families to the available resources to help meet their basic needs. In addition to the services located on our campus, we maintain a resource directory to assist with referrals to additional services. Our philosophy is for the families we serve to become active volunteers and supporters of Partners In Ministry. It is our goal for families to support others who need assistance, by providing a hand up for other families.

Food Pantry

The food pantry is open and offers monthly distribution on the first and third Friday at 3:00 pm, and the second and fourth Saturday at 9:00 am, except for holiday weekends. Our food pantry is operated by our volunteers and participants from our Youth Empowered to Succeed (YES) program.

Additionally, Partners In Ministry representatives are available to assist with applications for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). TEFAP is a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. For more resources for senior food insecurity, visit Aging In Place.

Community Garden & Food Forest

Partners In Ministry operates a community garden at our main Campus in East Laurinburg to provide access to healthy food options and teach the community about sustainable gardening. The community garden is led by Ben McCallum with the support of students from Youth Empowered to Succeed (YES), Department of Social Service workers and volunteers.

Additionally, Partners In Ministry is currently developing a food forest on the main campus. Essentially, a food forest is a garden primarily centered on perrenial plants (vegetables, fruits, herbs, shrubs) that do not need to be replanted every year.

Here are the basic planting concepts involved in developing a food forest:

  • Canopy: This is your tallest layer, comprised mostly of large fruit and nut trees such as pecans, walnuts, or chestnuts.
  • Understory: Smaller nut and fruit trees that can tolerate partial shade make up the understory.
  • Vines: Grapes and other shade-tolerant climbers live in the vine layer, using overstory and understory trees as trellising.
  • Shrubs: The partial shade of the shrub layer is excellent for fruiting shrubs like huckleberry, elderberry, and currant.
  • Herbaceous: This layer is where you’ll find herbs like rosemary, lavender, and mint, as well as a whole host of other leaf-bearing, perennial plants like rhubarb and asparagus.
  • Groundcover: This is the soil layer and is made up of horizontally spreading cover crops like sorrel, alpine strawberries, or any number of green spreaders
  • Rhizosphere: Root crops make up this layer, and it is the one part of the food forest where you might find annuals— if sun is available.
  • Mycelial: This is the subterranean mushroom layer.