STARIA DAVISON, the founder of the Storehouse Food Pantry in Manchester, received the vision to open the Storehouse Food Pantry in 2018 to serve the community and “feed God’s people.”
Davison said Laurie Campbell appeared to her in her vision. Campbell now serves as the volunteer coordinator and wears multiple hats within the organization. She is a stats keeper and warehouse supervisor and has many other duties.
In the beginning, they served whatever food products they could find in grocery stores. And now, the pantry serves thousands of pounds of food at their drive-thru, which is open every Thursday from 10 a.m. until noon. Within those two hours, they serve approximately 750 to 900 people. The remainder of the week and on weekends, they help local groups like DCS, local court systems, local jails, churches, and anyone in need.
Davison left the medical field after 35 years, working at a nonprofit drug court over the veteran’s program. Campbell retired after 30 years of working in education.
Davison and Campbell both live in Manchester, which is why they decided to establish the organization, incorporated in 2020, in this city.
Campbell said, “This just happened to be hand-picked for us at the right time.”
Campbell’s daughter, Emily, helps her with stats, poundage, customer outreach, and connection. She also helps her mom, Laurie Campbell, manage what food comes in and goes out.
Campbell said knowing that she’s fulfilling a need strengthens her.
“That gives me strength every day just to keep doing what we’re doing.
The organization helps “Tennessee Promise” and the court system, providing community service hours to young people who need them.
Campbell said, “They respect what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to accomplish, and they abide by the volunteer rules.”
Campbell said hearing community members’ survival stories and meeting their needs strengthens her. “That’s our purpose and God’s purpose — to meet every need that we possibly can, whether that’d be prayer, food, or spiritual food.”
Campbell and Davison said their role model is Jesus because of how he lived his life. In his short 33 years, he fulfilled the calling set before him, and he accomplished a lot.
Campbell said, “We want to be his hands and feet.”
Campbell said their future goals are to keep doing what they’re doing. They plan to keep their doors open by participating in community outreach and bringing in more volunteers to do better and better.”
Emily Campbell said helping struggling families keeps her going.
“I really enjoy helping my mom and Staria, so it’s a blessing.”
Davison and Campbell consider their mission to be much like Matthew 25:35:
“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in.”
Davison said the organization is always in need of volunteers. GN
