CAMDEN, S.C. — A Camden man is working to bless others with food during their time of need.
His name is Brent Rogers and for the past year and a half he’s been putting out ‘blessing boxes’ full of items like nonperishable foods, toiletries, baby wipes, and, at the animal shelter, items for pets.
“I’ve been clean and sober for about six years now and basically I wanted to honor the people that got me up out of where I was,” Rogers said. “Everybody’s welcome to take something if they need it, and it’s also a place for people to drop off that are blessed and want to bless others.”
There are three locations so far: The Camden Police Department at 1000 Lyttleton St, the Piggly Wiggly at 50 E Dekalb St, and the Kershaw County Humane Society at 128 Black River Rd.
Sgt. Carl Smith oversees the police station box.
“We used to sometimes fill it once a day, sometimes once every other day, but ever since the pandemic started, two or three times a day we have to fill this box up,” Sgt. Smith said. “… it’s really a vital need as far as food in this area.”
Officer Sharon Green was giving on Wednesday.
“It’s like a warm feeling inside to know that you give something back to the community that’s in need,” she said.
Rogers hopes others will give too.
“I’d been in the situation where I needed a blessing box and there were blessing boxes there for me,” he said. “Hopefully, that continues down the chain.”
Rogers has created a Facebook group for people in the community hoping to help called the Camden Kindness Coalition. It can be found here.