Stories

The mission of Burke United Christian Ministries is to put compassion into action, demonstrating the love of Christ by providing, food, clothing, shelter, and crisis assistance to God’s children in need.

Thanks to Joe T. L. Smith for his service to our country. Mr. Smith entered the army in 1967 and served for two years.
     He served with the 10th Calvary Armored Division as a mechanic. He was stationed first at Fort Bragg, NC, Fort Ord, Cal. and at Fort Knox, Ky.
     “I got to see and experience and learn a lot of things that I would not have gotten to do or see if I had not been drafted,” he stated.
     Mr. Smith regularly eats in the Soup Kitchen where he enjoys “...meeting people and making new friends.” But he especially enjoys “...eating the good hot meals.” He also states that he enjoys the good people that work and volunteer in the Soup Kitchen. “They are just good people.”

     Thanks to Horatio Bristol III for his service to our country. Mr. Bristol retired from the Army after 20 years of service.
     He joined at age 18 in 1972 and after training he served overseas in Korea. He left the service briefly, but was not satisfied. He re-joined in 1981 and served in the Army until he retired.
     Mr. Bristol regularly eats in the Soup Kitchen. “I live alone on my retirement income and it is a great blessing to be able to eat here,” he states. “Everybody always treats us real nice and the food is always good.”
     While in the Army he was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC, Fort Jackson, S.C., Fort Knox, Ky. and Fort Bliss, Tx. He was also stationed overseas in Germany.

Thanks to Don Anthony for his service to our county. Mr. Anthony entered the Army after graduating from Drexel High School in 1967.
     After his basic training at Fort Bragg, he served a year in Vietnam. He retired from the Army in 1993 and came back to live in Morganton in 2007.
     Mr. Anthony remembers vividly his service in Vietnam where he was stationed in a camp with a twenty-mile radius. “The Vietcong would just shoot mortars with no particular target and you just never knew where they were going to hit,” he stated.
     Don and his brother Charlie Anthony volunteer once a week in the Food Pantry, assisting people in need of groceries to select their food and carry it to their car. Typically, they are visited by their disabled brother Larry Anthony who eats in the Soup Kitchen.
     He loves to volunteer in the Food Pantry. “It is a great mission of helping others.”

Thanks to Ted Restel for his service to our country.   Mr. Restel joined the Air Force in 1968 and received his pilot training at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona.
     Mr. Restel flew large four engine planes in support of the Vietnam War. He flew all over the Pacific in a plane that could carry 70,000 pounds of cargo such as helicopters, trucks and bulldozers.
     Mr. Restel volunteers once a week for Burke United Christian Ministries and his job is still carrying cargo. He travels to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Hickory every Thursday to pick up food for the Food Ministry. He is also an active volunteer with the Habitat Restore and a Wednesday Warrior building houses with Habitat for Humanity.
     Ted enjoys the fellowship with co-workers at the Ministry, but most of all, he enjoys his service to others who are less fortunate.