Written by Tiane Davis // Photo by Macy Cox
After the recent temperature drop to below freezing early this week, Searcy First Methodist Church set up a warming fence and warming center at its main facilities. People from the Searcy community and surrounding areas donated approximately 300 items to be placed at the warming fence, which is available to anyone free of charge.
Searcy First Methodist member Patty Williams, who got the idea from a church in Rogers, said this is their third year to set up a warming fence. The goal is to provide anyone in the community with warm outerwear, she said, in case the cold weather left them unprepared.
“One day, a gentleman came by and said, ‘I’ve got a coat, but what I really need is some gloves,’ so we looked through and found some gloves,” Williams said. “Then another lady said that she needed jackets for her grandchildren, and we found jackets for them. It’s really heartwarming to know that you’re helping people, and it’s the whole community pitching in to do it.”
Williams said the church made announcements about the warming fence and warming center on social media and through messages to other organizations. She said people as far as Rose Bud have donated supplies.
“People have been so generous,” Williams said. “We couldn’t do it without the community; we’re just the feet and hands.”
Kathy Throckmorton, another member of Searcy First Methodist who works with Williams to maintain the warming fence, said the community has always been supportive of projects the church does.
“We support the community and they support us,” Throckmorton said.
Searcy Mission Machine, which is an outreach program that serves houseless people in Searcy, used the church’s gymnasium as a warm shelter, with the church providing meals and cots for those in need.
Mission Machine co-founder and director Mike Pfeiffer said the people at Searcy First Methodist were eager to help and “do a great job doing it.” He said the gymnasium can hold several more people compared to the Mission Machine facilities and that he is grateful for the help.
“We get tremendous support from the community,” Pfeiffer said. “We are community funded only and get no grants, and we’re able to do what we do. The people at Searcy First Methodist were the first ones to step up and really help us out.”
Pfeiffer said other churches in town have helped out and that the Carmichael Center has been open to the public 24/7 since the temperature dropped, which is the first year they have been able to do that.
“Like many southern states, we just don’t get used to winter weather, and January is our worst month,” Pfeiffer said. “We’re really indebted to the Searcy First Methodist Church, and I hope to see a homeless shelter in Searcy in the future.”
