Rutherford County Food Council
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 1:33 pm
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Since 2004, Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach has served thousands of residents in need. Their mission is to help eliminate hunger and provide emergency services with love and compassion to those in need that live in our community. While the food pantry is most utilized by clients, they also provide several outreach programs to help children with food and school supplies, holiday programs for families, financial assistance to families in need, and a scholarship program. On average, each month they serve 114 families and 357 individuals with 44% being children and 14% are seniors aged 65+ years. In 2025, 200 families received financial assistance for bills and medicine while one student received a scholarship for pursuing secondary education.
Because the Outreach center is located so close to the Lake Lure and Chimney Rock neighborhoods that were hit the hardest by Hurricane Helene, they received an enormous amount of item donations right after the natural disaster, from clothes to food to diapers. Yet, weeks went by before they could start distributing it all because mobility was hindered by fallen trees and road destruction. Karen King, Office Manager and Board President, says that it took them more than a year to distribute all of the donations once roads were passable again, with some supplies still lingering at the center today. Alarmingly, in recent months they have seen an increase in residents seeking their services with 8-10 new households signing up each month. King says that several new clients have never utilized a food pantry or bill assistance before. The greatest need that their clients are expressing right now is for assistance to pay their utilities and rent/mortgage.
For our youngest neighbors, the Outreach center partners with Lake Lure Classical Academy to supply food to their students through their programs, Food for Kids and School Supplies Drive. About 39 students from economically disadvantaged homes receive daily lunches and take a box home each weekend filled with nutritious food. At the beginning of the school year, about 90 students receive a backpack with necessary school supplies to set them up for success. Without this assistance, these students would struggle to stay focused in school due to no resources to complete school assignments and hungry bellies that lead to developmental delays.
Now in its 22nd year, Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach serves households in some but not all of Rutherford, Polk, Buncombe, and Henderson Counties. Its boundaries are limited to Green Hill, Old Fort Road, Mill Spring, Gerton, and Edneyville. But they will serve anyone who shows up in the moment and then direct them to services closer to their home. The Outreach center is part of a sprawling network of food pantries and human service organizations that are situated in 18+ counties in western North Carolina. While it serves some households in the Rutherford County/ Second Harvest Food Bank region, it receives most of its food donations from MANNA Food Bank, enabling it to build strong programs that serve residents in all four of these counties. Learn more about Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach and their programs by visiting https://hickorynutgorgeoutreach.org.
How You Can Help
Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach is always accepting monetary, food, and school supply donations. They also give donors the options to sponsor a Food for Kids recipient and/or holiday gifts. Volunteers are always welcome, too. Find out more about how you can help by visiting https://hickorynutgorgeoutreach.org/donate/.