Columbia native Don Don Spruill on Nov. 19 gave a large amount of foodstuffs to Inner Banks Hotline in Columbia.

“For the past two out of three years, we have put together a Thanksgiving Food Drive,” Spruill stated in a email, “and we donate it to the Inner Banks Hotline and families in need of assistance in Columbia. We teamed up with IBX executive director Mrs. Janie Spencer, who has been helping out the community for as long as I can remember, to distribute the food to the families in need of assistance.”

Spruill, a Raleigh resident, explained his motive this way: “It’s not only important but imperative that you give back to your community and to families in need of assistance.

“I have seen both sides of the table. On one side of the table there’s so much food you are full before you take your first bite; and then I have seen people close their eyes and pray they had at least one bite to eat.

“It starts with the person in the mirror. I couldn’t ask anybody to give if I wasn’t giving, so I started to give.”

Spruill said he plans to continue this food drive annually to help more families.

“Next year, the TCBG (Tyrrell County Building Group), who already is doing great things in the community, will be alongside of me,” Spruill stated, “and the invitation is also open to anyone that wants to help.”

“I have to thank God and my wife for it all,” he concluded.