God’s Storehouse working through challenges, meeting goals thanks to Smiley Tynes

A year ago, God’s Storehouse was struggling to keep its pantries stocked and bills paid.

Then Smiley Tynes stepped in.

As the new manager of the northeast Columbia food and clothing bank, Tynes set goals over the past year to give the storehouse a new face and to expand its service footprint in the community.

She started with refocusing the storehouse’s mission on a set of tenets she deemed “STARS”: stewardship, transparency, accountability, responsibility and service.

“I had to change the mindset of the people that come in. It’s not the same place,” Tynes said. “I had to put God back in it. So many things were going on, and it wasn’t about him.”

It has been Tynes’ leadership that has kept God’s Storehouse afloat and moving forward, the 25-year-old agency’s board chairman, Ron Morgan, said.

“She’s just been a huge, huge blessing,” Morgan said of 43-year-old Tynes. “She’s the driving force right now behind the storehouse.”

These days, the food and clothing pantries are plenty well stocked – well enough to host a take-what-you-can clothing giveaway one Saturday a month, and well enough to help supply other food pantries at churches around the community. God’s Storehouse is now serving some 30 or more families a day, four days a week, from its Risley Road warehouse.

But the storehouse is hanging by threads on the financial end, with barely enough cash to cover the mortgage and utility bills. Forget a paid staff.

Tynes works seven days a week, sometimes 12 or more hours a day at God’s Storehouse – for no pay.

She came to the storehouse years ago as a volunteer, looking for “somewhere to hide” from a the stress of her full-time job working in the insurance business.

Still a full-time insurance worker, Tynes gives even more of her time to God’s Storehouse because, “I gave my word, and that means everything,” she said.

“If I said I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it,” Tynes said. “I had to prove it to myself that we can do this. We can do this. We can get back.”

Her community connections have helped boost the storehouse’s donor base as well as helped establish a station for clients to get hooked up with benefits such as food stamps and other resources and training “so that they don’t have to be in this position,” Tynes said.

But a dwindling volunteer base has put a strain on the storehouse’s and Tynes’ ability to serve.

“It’s hard to do stuff when it’s just you,” Tynes said.

After a recent television news story, though, Tynes and the storehouse were flooded with messages from people who wanted to offer their time, she said. Tynes welcomes them all and more.

On a recent Friday morning, 19-year-old University of South Carolina sophomore Cole James came to the storehouse to volunteer for the first time, feeling compelled to help after learning of the need, he said.

“They’ve got a good program running over here, for sure. I can tell people who volunteer here, they’ve got the best of intentions,” James said as he restocked shelves with canned goods and packed grocery bags with food for clients. Of Tynes, he noted: “just how selflessly she gives up her time to help other people. That’s awesome.”

There’s still more to be done to fulfill Tynes’ goals for the storehouse. In addition to more helping hands and continued donations of food, clothing, toys and other items, God’s Storehouse is in desperate need of financial support. The roof is leaking, the air conditioning units are busted, and the money just isn’t there to fix them.

And, Tynes said, she wishes for a cargo van to help pick up large donations.

Most of all, she wants to see God’s Storehouse be able to keep its doors open to continue to serve. And she plans to see that goal through.

“If you give, it’ll be given back,” Tynes said. “I’ll be here whether whatever. I’ll be here.”

This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 8:43 PM with the headline "God’s Storehouse working through challenges, meeting goals thanks to Smiley Tynes."