CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – On Saturday morning, people formed a line all the way around the Community of Hope, First Nazarene Church to take part in Radical Mission’s free grocery shopping experience.

“We have organized the event for people to come and have dignity and choose the food that they get,” Carrie Wheeler, the organizer of the event, told Clarksville Now.

Backstock of grocery items at the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022. (Angela Peterson)
Carrie Wheeler assisting volunteers at the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022. (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Grocery carts lined up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022. (Angela Peterson
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Participants lining up outside to take part in the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022. (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)
Volunteers preparing set up for the Radical Mission grocery experience on April 23, 2022 (Angela Peterson)

Among the items available were frozen foods, produce, canned foods, breads, sweets and hygiene items.

Wheeler said Radical Mission has been around since 2006, providing a food pantry that is free to the public.

“Every opportunity that we have to make connections with people and build relationships with people, we try to take on that mission,” Wheeler said. “We want to show that we love them as God loves them.”

Every step of the grocery shopping experience was accompanied by volunteers from the moment that participants got in line. Outside, volunteers greeted people with kind words and water bottles, and when they stepped inside, more volunteers helped them with their grocery cart and took things out to people’s cars.

About 65 volunteers helped on Saturday, as well as about 25 who helped with setup.

“We’re not just here to herd people through like cattle, we are going to be here and be the love of Jesus,” Jon Vaughn, the board president of Radical Mission, said to the volunteers prior to a prayer.

Vaughn told Clarksville Now they served 310 households. which included 636 adults and 435 children.

To learn more, go to the Radical Mission website.