ROCHELLE — Seven C’s Mission began in 2013 when a member of Crossroads Community Church was getting rid of some belongings. 

“A lady came and said she'd take it all,” Amanda Barnes, a volunteer at Seven C’s Mission said. “A friend of mine was the one giving things away. Through conversation she learned that the lady had nothing and she prayed about it for a while. That all stirred her heart and she pitched it to me and it just went from there. It was just being touched by people and their needs. You go through your day, you don't really notice that people are hurting and in need.”

Seven C’s started out at Crossroads and moved to 1135 Lincoln Hwy. in town four years ago. The mission is an outreach ministry of Living Water Community Church located at 405 N. Main St. It hosts monthly giveaways on the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. where it helps meet the needs of people by offering donated new and gently used clothing, hygiene items and other small housewares, as well as providing lunch free of charge. 

Beginning April 21, Seven C’s will begin hosting a second giveaway on the third Thursday of each month from 4-7 p.m. Giveaways are currently by appointment only. However, beginning May 14 it will begin serving the community on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Some volunteers at Seven C’s serve as personal shoppers who walk each person or family through the mission and get to know them through conversation while they pick out clothes or other donated items.  The mission also takes appointments throughout the month to assist people in crisis. 

“Every month we seem to have one or two more people come in that need help,” Barnes said. “We just want to let the community know we're here. It's rough out there and we know a lot of people are hurting and we just want to help."

Along with Barnes, the Seven C’s volunteer team includes Gigi Gardner, Patty O’Connor and Brooke Smith. 

“I think it's what Christ called us to do,” Gardner said. “So often you see somebody in need and you don't reach out and just walk past them. We don't want to do that. If there's a need and we can help, we have to."

Along with its mission work, Seven C’s volunteers carry blessings bags in their vehicles that include hygiene items, water bottles, a McDonalds gift card and more to hand out if they see someone that may be in need. 

Gardner estimates Seven C’s helps 18-25 people and their families every month. That number will increase in April with the extra giveaway day.

The mission is always available to area residents in emergency situations. 

“Last summer the house down the street from here burned down and the girl came and met us here and we scrambled and gave her whatever she needed,” Barnes said. “If we know there's a need, we'll just meet the person here."

Seven C’s takes donations of and offers area residents hygiene items like toilet paper, shampoo and conditioner, lotion, shaving cream, razors and more. Those in need can look through clean, used clothing items that have been donated and small housewares.

There’s a donation bin on the south side of the Seven C’s building if residents want to help with the items it needs. The mission also takes donations of shoes, bedding, towels, children’s diapers and new socks and underwear. 

O’Connor estimates the Seven C’s volunteer group puts in about 60 hours of work per month. Smith agreed with that number and spoke about what goes into volunteering at the mission.

“There's a lot of work that goes into it,” Smith said. “We have to sort through donations because we're very picky about what we take. We go through everything and everything is very organized. We also rotate the clothes in and out by season. There's a lot of volunteer hours that go into it. There's so much behind the scenes work. When we transition to spring and summer, it will be a busy two weeks. We're here a lot."

While Seven C’s knows the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted area residents negatively and made more of a need for its services, it has not seen more people come in. 

“Maybe that's because we haven't been put out there very much,” Smith said. “We know seeing less people can't be true of what's really going on."

The mission wants to be more involved in the community and give more help to the people that need it. Seven C’s wants to help on a personal level.

“Just being the hands and feet of Jesus and reaching out and loving people,” Barnes said. “I know when people come in here, a lot of them are used to being treated as a number. They're used to walking through a food pantry with a number assigned to them. We really try to establish relationships so we know about them and their families.”