Jadee Gilley will be celebrating her fourteenth birthday in a few days. In pursuing what has become a passion for the Pilot Mountain teenager, much of her focus for the day will again be on meeting the needs of those around her.
Two years ago, for her twelfth birthday, Gilley had spent the day volunteering with Maranatha Homeless Outreach. Maranatha is a local organization that meets regularly to pass out prepared meals and other items to anyone with need.
On that day in early 2019, she had assisted in passing out fruit from the group’s regular position in a parking lot at the intersection of West Pine Street and North South Street in Mount Airy. As she watched people eagerly claim and enjoy pieces of fruit, some of which was past its prime, she was moved by the need she was unexpectedly witnessing so close to her own home.
She continued to volunteer each Friday as the realization built that she wanted to do more.
“A month or two after that,” Jadee’s mother remembers, “she came to us and told us that this was what God was calling her to do. She wanted to start her own ministry and operate it by faith.”
Jadee, with the support of her parents, James and Shasta Gilley, her brother, Tripp, and her church, Pilot Mountain Community Church, established Cross Training Ministries. The ministry now works with Maranatha to help provide meals while also reaching out into the area and beyond to address needs in people’s lives as she sees them. Jadee Gilley also now serves as a youth leader for Maranatha.
An eighth-grade honor roll student at Mount Airy Middle School, Jadee leads a busy school life, with interests in cheerleading and the HOSA Future Health Professionals student organization.
Her ministry remains a priority, however, as she sometimes does meal preparation in the evening and gets up early to put food together before school. She may fill a crock pot with spaghetti before school in order to be able to pass out warm meals immediately afterwards.
As it has in so many areas of life, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced some changes in efforts to provide meals. Maranatha previously had served meals three times each week as well as offering meals at local motels and to shut-ins. Now, boxed meals are served once each week and delivered to shut-ins.
“Before,” James Gilley noted, “volunteers were able to serve the meals and talk to people. People enjoyed the interaction and we did as well. Everybody wants to feel noticed and valued.”
Cross Training Ministries also works to provide emergency groceries as needed and fill local “Blessing Boxes.” The boxes are mounted in public areas, making canned and non-perishable food available to anyone with need. Clothing and shoes are also provided as available.
Jadee and other family members have also made multiple trips to Beattyville, KY. Beattyville is located in Lee County, described by Gilley as one of the poorest counties in the nation. As she has done at home, Jadee has utilized the value of working with other ministries in order to effectively reach more people.
She and others coming in from throughout the region have helped a Beattyville ministry provide meals.
She also helped out at a newly established homeless ministry in the small town, helping to provide meals and clothing. While volunteering, she noticed what she recalls as a desperate need for cookware to be used in meal preparation.
Upon her return to Pilot Mountain, she began working to let others know of the need and started collecting donations of cookware and clothing. She and her family were soon able to return for more volunteer service while delivering a supply of needed goods to the ministry, goods that are now being used.
A majority of the donations received by Cross Training Ministries continue to be used locally. In addition to the support of church and family, Jadee regularly receives donations in the form of clothing, food and finances.
“Jadee is good at stretching a dollar,” Shasta Gilley explained, “and God provides. I probably worry a lot more about needs being met than she does.
“Doing this,” Gilley continued, “we’ve seen miracle after miracle. One day she was shopping and was $20 short of what she needed. Someone in the store started talking to her about what she was doing and gave her a $20 bill. Another time we were feeding a long line of people with a limited amount of chicken tenders. Everyone ended up getting fed and we never ran out.”
In September, family and friends helped Jadee host a motorcycle ride at her church to raise funds for Cross Training Ministries’ winter efforts. More than $1,000 was raised in addition to gaining sponsors for the ministry Christmas effort. This year saw the number of children receiving at least four Christmas gifts each more than double, with 22 kids sponsored. An estimated 1,000 pieces of clothing were also donated at the ride.
The funds also allowed medicine to be purchased for a pair of local individuals and holiday meals to be provided for a resident dealing with serious illness.
As word of the ministries’ combined efforts to provide meals has reached out, Jadee and other volunteers have seen more people with need come to receive help.
“It’s continuing to grow,” she said. “We want to help more people as God provides.”
“People don’t think of Mount Airy as an area with need,” James Gilley said, “but they’re feeding shut-ins and people who are struggling to make ends meet. If somebody needs a meal, we will find a way to feed them.”
“When I started,” Jadee added, “it was a surprise. I had thought of this as a tourist town. After that first day, I wanted to keep going out and serving. God has laid it on my heart to help and serve, whether its meals or clothing or something to help stay warm.”
Jadee and Cross Training Ministries are starting a new collaborative effort this week. Working with the Helping Hands Foundation, they will provide five meals each week to 185 area senior residents.
“I enjoy doing all of this a lot,” Jadee noted. “It would be heartbreaking to stop. I get to know the people we feed and I get to hear their stories. They’re almost like extended family.”
So how will Jadee Gilley spend her upcoming birthday?
“We take turns with Maranatha to prepare food,” she said. “But on my birthday, I want Cross Training Ministries to be able to prepare and serve the meals. That’s all I have planned.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com