Christians United Outreach Center (CUOC) started in 2004 as a small organization helping neighbors in Lee County, NC with food, and over twenty years, it has now grown and evolved to include assistance with utility and rent payments, counseling, a

thrift store, and now the Client Choice Healthy Pantry. The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina has awarded CUOC with the gold standard for food pantries. There are hundreds of food pantries across the state, but only fifty have

achieved gold status. This means that CUOC offers 100 percent food choice (other than meats) for our neighbors. We do this with a "mini-grocery store" set up where neighbors push a cart and hand-pick the exact tomatoes they want, choose between

cereal brands and find cultural foods (such as collards or corn masa) their families know and love. By offering neighbors the opportunity to select the foods they want to eat, it decreases waste and provides a sense of dignity. So many people are

experiencing food insecurities due to inflation and rising costs. We are here to help.