The Cooperative Ministry

09/30/2026

Today was the annual Tucker Oil/Corner Pantry Golf Tournament, benefiting The Cooperative Ministry and Toby's Place.

We are so blessed to be one of the beneficiaries. Days like today remind us how much our community shows up for the people we serve.

Thank you to our friends at Tucker Oil and Corner Pantry!

09/24/2026

A great group of volunteers from Colonial Life visited our clothing bank this morning, providing valuable service in our clothing and food areas and helping make room for additional clothing donations. It was a great morning!
Serving were Stacey Grooms, Amanda Maldonado, Brenda Newman, Michelle Jones, Alex Mooris, Mariah Gause, Chris Wade, Abby Tolar, Hanna Hennigan, Cassidy Sweeney, Matt Gentry, Nevin Sawyer, Sam Garcia, Daine Seals, Kevin Hagan, Jason Thompson, Harrow Hawthorne, and Jacob Hays.
Thank you!

09/15/2026

Members of the Alpha Sigma Phi men's fraternity at the University of South Carolina visited The Cooperative Ministry last week and served Friday morning in our clothing bank. Friday groups help reset our clothing bank so next week's clients can "shop" for the free clothing they need and want for work and school.

09/14/2026

Each fall, The Cooperative Ministry hosts a meeting of the Francis Foster Circle of Trenholm Road United Methodist Church in Columbia. These ladies meet in our boardroom and then serve in our clothing bank.
In the top photograph, from left to right, are Kaye Strother, Cindy Sparks, Susan Adams, Becky Kerr, Beverly Nance, and Jane Buie. Not pictured is Willa Davis.
In the bottom photograph, Scott Vaughan, our director of community awareness, receives a financial donation on behalf of the circle from Beverly Nance and Susan Adams.
Thank you!

09/03/2026

We want to thank the staff at Lexington Health Inc. Community Medical Center NE for collecting gently used clothing for our clothing bank. The staff collected the clothing during Thrifting Tuesdays, and the Imaging Department established an on-site Thrift Store. Staff members then shopped for clothing, donating food items for the opportunity to shop; all clothes were free. After the sale, staff donated the food items to a local non-profit in the NE area and delivered the additional items to The Cooperative Ministry. We are thankful to be beneficiaries of a creative way to bring workplace teams together to bless others in the community. Pictured with the donations are Imaging Managers, Lisa and Katina.

08/24/2026

Our friends at Community Church - Northeast regularly send a team of volunteers to serve in our clothing bank and food pantry. This past Friday, volunteers prepared the clothing bank for those who come the following week to "shop" for free clothing. Pictured from left are Ken Grayburn, Debi Norris, Jayne Ashe, and Ed Norris. Ed serves on the church staff as Outreach/Next Steps Ministry Assistant and Men's Ministry Director. Thank you!

08/12/2026

The Cooperative Ministry manages the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program for the Midlands of South Carolina.
A very successful 2026 tax season has concluded, and all of our tax sites are closed until the 2027 tax season. We will resume operations in the Columbia, SC area in January 2027.
Please visit www.coopmin.org/vita for start-up information in 2027. If you are interested in volunteering, we also have that information on our page. Thank you!

IRS-trained and certified volunteers serve at multiple locations across the greater Midlands to provide free income tax assistance to thousands of individuals.

08/11/2026

We've worked on our website today.
Donors can now visit the green DONATE button at the top of the Home Page and find a drop-down menu with quick links to pages for financial gifts and donations of food, clothing, furniture, and books. The orange button for car donations includes a very simple form to get the process started.
This restructuring also benefits our clients. Now, pages under the Services tab only focus on specific service qualifications and applications that people need for help. The Donation information has been moved to other pages.
Thank you!

08/10/2026

The Cooperative Ministry is celebrating a very successful Food Collection Drive from the Seniors Ministry at Presbyterian Church Columbia SC. This year's drive collected shelf-stable food items to create 100 emergency food bags for families and individuals in our community. The food will be distributed through The Cooperative Ministry's emergency food pantry.
Pictured with food, from left, are Josh Fleming, Director of Young Professionals Ministry; Rufus Terry, Pastoral Intern to Seniors; Scott Vaughan, Director, Community Awareness at The Cooperative Ministry; and Beck Otersen, Director of Local Missions. Special thanks to Janet Altman, who serves as First Presbyterian's Seniors Ministry Coordinator and organized this summer food drive. Thank you!

07/27/2026

This past weekend, The Cooperative Ministry welcomed this group of Gateway Baptist Church students, who helped with a landscaping project and then moved into our clothing bank to sort and rack clothing for clients needing free clothing for work and school. The students were participating in a local missions weekend on Friday and Saturday.