ELCM — Ministry gathers support for move

East Lincoln Christian Ministries is moving to a new location, with the target date of Memorial Day.
The 20,000-square-foot building will be located on Catawba Burris Road in Denver. It will be moved from it’s Pine Ridge Drive location, which is only a 10,000-square-foot building.
“This has been a project we have been working on for three years,” said Gary Murdock, president of ELCM. “The demand has continued to increase as the population increases.”
Murdock said space with their building has been an ongoing problem.
“As more people move in, there are more donations,” he said.
The ministry is leasing some land, located on the Rock Springs Campground. The lease will run for 99 years from the campground trustees.
The building will cost roughly $700,000, and ELCM will be breaking ground in the middle of the month.
In order to help fund the project, Murdock is looking for support from local churches, applying for grants and working on his capital campaign committee.
“We have some people who are working with some individuals on Highway 16,” he said.
An account has also been set up at First Charter on N.C. 16. Donations can be made there.
A generous donation by a local family has already been made in the amount of $10,000. The family attends Hills Chapel United Methodist Church. Murdock said ELCM also has some money saved up which will go towards the building fund.
The new establishment will include several different offices.
There will be a crisis financial help center located in the front of the building, a food pantry, a closet area which will be used for clothing donations, a sorting room for donations and a warehouse in the back, which will be used to store items such as furniture.
The crisis interview room will also be more private, an improvement from the previous one.
Murdock said they expect to expand their hours which are currently 9 a.m. t,o noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
An option of paid staff may also be included in the future, currently ELCM is primarily only volunteers.
Although the project is a long road ahead, Murdock is confident it will be well worth the wait.
“Our goal is to be able to meet the needs for people,” Murdock said. “If you look around the county you see big houses but then there are people who are hungry within 10 miles.”
Other goals include to expand what ELCM has to offer.
Services such as elder care, language classes for Hispanics, mentor and tutoring groups are all possibilities.
His goal is to raise $100,000 or more through talking to businesses.
“When we go on Highway 16, it is amazing the amount of people who don’t know about us or where we are located,” he said.
Once the building is complete, Murdock said he is sure everyone will love the new facility.
“It may take awhile but we will make it,” he said. “We are going on faith right now.”
To make a donation, one can do so through their church, or by mailing it to East Lincoln Christian Ministry, PO Box 421, Denver, NC 28037.

by Amy Wadsworth