Monday marked the finishing touches of a community banding together to support Beaufort County’s homeless shelter, Zion Kitchen Shelter.

Two local 4-H clubs — Raised in a Barn Farm 4-H and St. John Church 4-H — consisting of 22 kids, came together to donate time at the shelter, providing assistance with preparing meals for the homeless population that comes to the shelter and carrying out other tasks that aided the shelter in its daily functions.

“I say a lot, in 4-H, our best crop is our children, back to our Ag roots,” said Erin Boahn Massie, 4-H agent with Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, who helps head up Raised in a Barn Farm 4-H. “We’re growing leaders in 4-H and you want them to understand the importance of giving back to the community and help them. To build a good community, you have to give back to the community.”

Massie said the idea came from 13-year-old P.S. Jones Middle School student Edmond Brown.

“(Edmond) came to me and asked about serving at a soup kitchen,” Massie said. “Zion is our (kitchen) in the area. I set up an appointment for us to go out there and serve others.”

The group served for half a day, during which time they prepared and served food to the homeless attendees, swept floors, put together goodie bags for the homeless. After the meal, the group cleaned off tables and the kitchen, and then handed out candy canes and wished the homeless a merry Christmas, according to Massie.

Massie said 4-H groups conduct community service projects regularly, as it is a part of its mission. The groups have brought baked goods to residents of nursing homes and sat and talked with them. They’ve made blessing boxes, packed with items, for foster children that are entering into new foster homes, as well as done landscaping projects for elderly people in the area.

“The kids are learning empathy skills and learning to communicate with folks who aren’t necessarily like themselves,” Massie said. “They’re also learning to cook, wash dishes and cook, and they’re doing it with a cheerful, happy heart.”

Robert Harris, director of the shelter, said the group was instrumental in performing the duties necessary to feed the homeless and clean up the facility after the meal, which is served daily.

“They were a wonderful group and well mannered,” Harris said. “Having the 4-H youngsters there, we served plates to the homeless, something we don’t normally do. That went very well and everything went just as planned. They were wonderful and I look forward to them maybe coming back in th