OAKLAND -- House of Refuge founder Helen Taylor, 87, has turned to the Oakland Ministerial Association to help carry on her mission of distributing food to people in need.

The ministerial association responded by preparing a new Oakland area food pantry for an Oct. 18 opening. Volunteers are being sought from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday (Sept. 22) to help clean up and paint the food pantry building, 2 Main St., at the southeast corner of the town square.

Taylor, an ordained minister, founded the House of Refuge mission in 1993 at her home in rural Brocton. She has distributed food and clothing to people in need over the years, but recently has started to scale back her work load.

“I could not carry the load. I am 87 years old and it became too big for me,” Taylor said.

After meeting with Taylor in the spring, the Rev. Ed Bacon, Oakland Christian Church, said the ministerial association started planning for a food pantry and obtained tax-exempt status as a nonprofit group. The association also includes the Antioch Separate Baptist Church, Oak Grove Baptist Church and Oakland United Methodist Church.

The food pantry will be in a building purchased by the Rev. Robert Lee of Oak Grove Baptist Church, Bacon said. The pantry will be in one of the building’s store fronts and the other store front will be available for use by a business or other nonprofit group, he said. The structure, known as the Wiggington Building, previously housed a resale shop.

Bacon said the food pantry will distribute food to people in need who reside within the Oakland school district, which covers Oakland and Hindsboro. He said other small communities, including Ashmore, have been starting food pantries to carry on Taylor’s work.

The association’s four churches will take turns staffing the food pantry in Oakland from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and by appointment, Bacon said. The churches decided to join together for the project after briefly considering offering their own individual food pantries, Bacon said.

“We thought this would be a better signal to the community to work together on this and to combine our resources and work to staff this,” Bacon said.

Taylor, who plans to continue her charitable work, said she is pleased to see the Oakland churches forming a food pantry.

“I am sure they will do a good job,” Taylor said. “I know the need is great out there.”

Donations of nonperishable food and money are being sought for the food pantry. Monetary donations can be made payable via checks to the Oakland Ministerial Association or to the individuals churches, in care of the food pantry.