The product of hard work and determination, the finished Blessing Box is fully stocked and ready for use. Pictured here are Tisha Still, youth director at CommonGround, Gayle George, property owner, and a group of CommonGround teens. (Courtesy)
By David Pannell
Daily Journal
WREN – Tisha Still was watching the “Harry Connick Jr. Show” when she had an idea.
“There was a lady from Arkansas talking about a Blessing Box, and I got goosebumps,” Still said. “I knew we had to do it.”
Still is the youth director at CommonGround Christian Church in Wren. She was searching for a way to get her teens to reach out beyond the walls of their church when she came across the idea of the Blessing Box.
A Blessing Box is a small, weatherproof, outdoor pantry. They are usually in busy areas, open to the public, stocked with basic essentials – canned goods, pasta, boxed milk, toiletries – free for the taking for people who could use a helping hand.
Still said she knows what it’s like to need a helping hand.
When she first moved to Mississippi from Arizona 10 years ago, Still was on her own with her four boys, on the run from an abusive husband.
“I could have used a Blessing Box 10 years ago,” she said.
Still got her life back on track after moving to Mississippi. She met her now-husband, Joe, and they put down roots together and started attending CommonGround, where she eventually started leading the teen group. Because of her background, she has a unique approach to ministry.
“I look at church a little differently, because I wasn’t in church my whole life,” Still said. “I see the other side of this. There are people that will never walk through these doors, no matter how cool we are or how great the music is. We have to go to them where they are.”
That’s why she and her group got so excited about the Blessing Box.
“That’s the thing about the box; there’s no criteria,” Still said. “Black, white, gay or straight, Muslim or whatever religion or no religion; it’s come as you are, get what you need and know that we love you – no matter what.”
DIY project
Still and her group worked together to design, build, install and stock their Blessing Box, which is on a busy thoroughfare in Amory. It’s currently the only Blessing Box in Mississippi, and the nearest one is in Memphis.
The finished Blessing Box, on a busy street across from the Monroe County Government Complex in Amory, has already seen quite a bit of activity. It is currently the only one in Mississippi. (Courtesy)
“We’d like to see one in every town,” Still said. “It costs about $120 to construct the box, and we spent about $70 stocking it,” Still said. “So far, people have taken a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a can of Ravioli and a box of Pop Tarts.
“The kids go by to check on it. They’re excited because they want people to use it. We want it to be empty.”
While the Blessing Box is intended to provide temporary essentials for the body, like food and toiletries, Still and her group wanted to nourish the spirits of its users as well.
“While the guys were building it, the girls wrote cards of inspiration. We picked Bible verses or song lyrics or words of encouragement, just simple things. If somebody’s in this predicament, they’re gonna need somebody to tell them it’s OK, it won’t always be like this,” she said.
There is also a receptacle where people can drop in prayer requests.
Still said she and her teens are curious about who is using the box, but they intentionally keep their distance.
“We really don’t want to interact with the people who use it,” she said. “We want it to be anonymous. When you’re down, you don’t want to feel embarrassed. That’s not why we’re doing it.”
Still said on more than one occasion people have asked her, “What if somebody comes and takes it all?”
“That’s between God and them,” she said. “I believe this is what we’re supposed to do. If we don’t do it because of something like that, we’d never do anything.”
As winter approaches, Still and her group will re-stock the box with seasonally appropriate items.
“Last year I bought a box of beanies and gloves on closeout for 25 cents each,” she said. “When it gets cold, we’ll put those in there.”
The Blessing Box is there to help whoever is in need. But Still said building the box and tending it is helping her teens as well.
“Whoever uses this will never know who put it there. It’s anonymous and we get nothing out of this. Just knowing that you’re helping someone who can’t help you is kinda cool,” she said. “We just want people to know that we care enough that we’ll come where you are, you don’t have to come to us.”
