MANCHESTER, Tenn. (WTVF) — Coming off of I-24 into Manchester, there's the Quik Mart that's run by Katie Haney.
"Hello, how are you?" she called, another familiar customer walking in the door. "We have krinkle fries, tots, all the little sides, fried mushrooms."
Let's not leave out fried okra.
"A lot of customers come in for fried okra!" Haney laughed. "We have a lady who comes in every day and gets a large order of it."
Smart lady.
"Mr. Tim! How are you?" Haney called to another customer.
"Hey. If I felt any better, you'd have to slap me to make me feel bad," he called back.
That's one thing about this Quik Mart. Haney knows a lot of people coming through here. Knowing the people, Haney figured they could all do something good.
"Would you like to donate anything to the blessing board?" she asked a customer.
Haney started this about a year ago. People coming through the Quik Mart can pay for something for someone else. It could be a slice of pizza, tenders, anything on the menu. That can then go to someone who's hungry.
"We have a lot of homeless people, a lot of people who come here from jail," Haney explained. "The jail's not even a mile up the road. A lot of time, they just need help. We don't ask. We don't discriminate. You just come in and ask, and we'll give it to you."
"I've been living without a house close to eight, nine months now," a man told me, who prefers not to share his name. "Gotta worry about getting robbed or dealing with the elements. Hard to find resources at times, hard to find a place to sleep, hard to find anybody who's willing to help out."
Haney wants to help out.
"Some in my family have been homeless, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody," she said.
As it turns out, a lot of people who come through her Quik Mart want to help out too.
"We've had five, six donations just this morning on the blessing board," Haney said.
"The manager at Quik Mart? I just wanna say 'thanks' cause it's helping a lot of people that are really struggling," said the man who didn't want to give his name.
He spoke between bites of a sausage biscuit from the blessing board.
"I feel thankful for being able to help people, being able to help the community out," Haney nodded.
Right off I-24 in Manchester, the Quik Mart has a blessing board waiting. Maybe leave someone some fried okra.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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