Church of Good Shepherd distributes $490,069 in grants
2025 Outreach Grant Recipients
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Matthew 25: 35-36
In an area overflowing with abundance, gently used items – designer furniture, crystal lamps, hand-carved tables – are being turned in to more practical items – car brakes, tires, food, clothing, a safe place to sleep.
That’s the mission of The Bazaar Barn and the people who run it. Take gently used, donated high-end, one-of-a-kind furnishings and turn them into needed things – things that feed the soul of the community it serves.
The Bazaar Barn is an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Cashiers. This year the Church of the Good Shepherd is awarding $490,069 in Outreach Grantt to 47 organizations, including seven new recipients, across the Cashiers–Highlands Plateau. These funds made possible through sales at the church-owned Bazaar Barn in Cashiers, support practical needs such as meals, transportation and family assistance – small but vital steps that make a lasting difference in people’s lives.
For new programs like Circles Car Care, the grant will literally be the difference between hope and despair.
“Circles was founded 25 years ago because somebody realized that poverty can be a circle,” said Circles Executive Director Mary Jane Lucas. “People could be living in poverty, get a job, experience some success, get a better job and suddenly they lose some benefits – SNAP, Medicaid – and now they can’t make ends meet. This program helps them get through that income reduced period… to get to the other side.”
Lucas said sometimes the other side is having money for basic car repairs to ensure they can get to and from that job that is helping them pull themselves up – hence, Circles Car Care Initiative.
“It’s a new initiative we’re launching at the end of this month, working with families where the ability to pay for a car repair means the difference in whether someone keeps a job,” said Lucas. The program is fashioned after the Working Wheels program in Asheville that does car repairs and refurbishes cars for people in need.
The local program will focus on families in southern Jackson County – Cashiers and Glenville.
Lucas said they will be working with families who are already within their “circle.”
“We already have community partners – Big Brothers / Big Sisters, Pisgah Legal Services, Blue Ridge School, Boys & Girls Club, who are tied into families that may need our help,” said Lucas. “We will be a referral resource for them. We’ll work with families in their system, help them budget, maybe learn some basic car repairs, build some trust between them and area mechanics.”
Lucas said funding from Good Shepard is vital to their organization and getting the program going. “We’re all working together… to make a difference.”
For Church of the Good Shepherd partner ministries like Circles is one more way to live out their mission.
“Our generous congregation raised the money to purchase the Bazaar Barn two years ago and the Outreach Grants Committee is responsible for the yearly distribution of all net proceeds made at the Bazaar Barn”, said Fred Halback, senior warden and outreach grants committee chair. “Our work serves in a way that models our church’s mission statement of Reflecting God’s Love Through our Faith in Action.”
Guided by Matthew 25:35–36, the nonprofit outreach program supports organizations working in food insecurity, shelter and housing, healthcare and wellness, human services, education and environmental protection- primarily serving the Plateau.
Over the past 38 years, the church has awarded more than $3.7 million in outreach grants, strengthening our community and offering hope, dignity.
About the church
The Church of the Good Shepherd is located at 1448 Highway 107 South, Cashiers. Visit goodshepherdofcashiers.com
About The Bazaar Barn
The Bazaar Barn is located at 1846 Hwy 107 N in Cashiers. It is open Thursday thru Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information call 828-226-2588.
“It’s a wonderful thing…”
Ray MaGaro sits back looking at ease on the wooden stool behind the counter at the Bazaar Barn.
He greets customers and volunteers as they make their way in the door, a smile on his face. It’s Saturday morning and a bevy of volunteers check in and make their way behind the counter for hug. Last week Ray was ill. This morning he’s back on his perch, waiting to serve others.
“I volunteered in food pantries in former towns and communities we lived in,” explained MaGaro. “The food pantry here wasn’t real convenient for me. I found out about this mission at church. I started out an hour or two a week. Now I’m up to about 10 to 15 hours a week.”
A seasonal resident for the past five years, MaGaro said he volunteers from May to October.
He started volunteering when The Barn was located near the crossroads. “They moved into this building over the winter and didn’t tell me. I think they were trying to get away from me… but I found them anyway… When I’m here, I like to spend time at the Barn. It’s a wonderful mission. Good people.”
Skip Ryan, the Bazaar Barn manager, said The Barn is known as an upscale, resell shop, filled with treasures. Located in Cashiers it is operated by the Church of the Good Shepherd. Funds raised from the resale shop are used to support community nonprofits.
“I tell people if they’re looking for rooms to go, this ain’t the place,” said Ryan. “Everything is unique. For the most part it’s one-of-a-kind type of stuff, and it comes from all over the world.”
Ryan said they work with designers and realtors in the area to secure donations. “Say somebody bought a house fully furnished, they don’t want it. We come and get the things and they get a tax break. We network with the community. When we get things in our shop that don’t work for us, we pass them on to other nonprofit resale shops.”
Gail Keck is another volunteer that helps keep things moving in The Barn. A member of the outreach committee at the Church of the Good Shepherd, she sees where the money goes, and the lives that are impacted.
‘Every year I review the grants, with the committee. We’re able to give the money we’ve earned back to the community, to meet real needs,” said Keck. “This year we gave 47 organizations more than $490,000. It’s just been wonderful how people donate to our Barn and then we turn around and give money back to the community. We’re helping people, right here in our community. For a small mountain rural community like this, that’s a lot of money, a lot of impact.”
Keck has watched the Barn evolve over the past 20 years into the unique ministry it is today. “I started when it was a one-day event. I did the silent auction at the church on Friday night, then the bazaar on Saturday.”
Leftover items were moved to the storage unit for the Bazaar Barn at the Crossroads, which was open on random weekends. Then COVID happened.
“It shut us down,” said Keck. “But it didn’t keep us down. The donations kept coming. We outgrew the storage units, were able to purchase this building, and so now here we are. It’s a wonderful thing… giving back…”
- Rachel Hoskins
rhoskins@thefranklinpress.com