Service Above Self: Meet Jim Bryant

For Jim Bryant, volunteering at Greenville Community Shelter isn’t something he does occasionally. For nearly two decades, service has simply been part of his life.

Jim’s involvement with the shelter began almost 20 years ago through Peace Presbyterian Church, when he brought dinner to residents once a month-a tradition the church continues today. From there, he began spending afternoons at the shelter providing respite. For the past several years, you can count on finding him here every Tuesday, faithfully serving lunch to our residents.

The word “faithfully” describes Jim well.

Ask our staff about him, and you’ll hear the same things again and again: dependable, reliable, kind, pleasant, and always willing to help. Whether he is serving a meal or talking with someone at the shelter, Jim does it with a smile on his face.

His service has extended far beyond Tuesdays. Through the Greenville Rotary Club, Jim helped lead an effort to provide racks for our clothing closet. The Rotary Club also donated every table and chair in our dining area and continues to come together once a month to purchase supplies and assemble lunch bags for our residents.

It is fitting that Rotary’s primary motto is “Service Above Self.” Jim says it is a philosophy he wholeheartedly believes in.

For him, volunteering at the shelter is hands-on, rewarding, and humbling. It provides a glimpse outside the world many of us experience every day.

“We’re all living in our normal, everyday world, and we don’t necessarily see what’s going on in the lives of others,” Jim says.

Spending time with people experiencing homelessness has given him a better understanding of the circumstances that can bring someone to a shelter. Sometimes, he points out, those circumstances are beyond a person’s control. He believes that recognizing the advantages we have in our own lives should encourage us to serve others, not separate ourselves from them.

And Greenville Community Shelter is about much more than providing a temporary place to stay.

It is a place where people can work toward stability, housing, and a new chapter in their lives. Jim has watched people come through our doors, put in that work, and succeed.

But that work depends heavily on something else: volunteers.

Jim wants people to know that service here can take many forms. Churches and community organizations can get involved. Individuals can give their time. Families can volunteer together. Jim has even brought his own children to serve at the shelter.

For families, he believes volunteering can become something much more meaningful than an average activity. It can open conversations with children about service, gratitude, and the reality that another child their age may be experiencing a life very different from their own.

You can interact with residents. You can serve a meal. You can help meet a practical need. Most importantly, you can simply show up.

Jim started by helping bring dinner once a month.

Nearly two decades later, he’s still showing up.

What could your first day of service become?

Greenville Community Shelter depends on volunteers like Jim to continue helping individuals and families in our community move toward stability and success. Whether you come by yourself, with your family, your church, or an organization, there is a place for you to serve.

Jim’s challenge is simple: look outside your everyday world, recognize what you have, and find a way to give back.

If you would like to volunteer to make a difference, reach out at (252) 752-0829, email vc@greenvillecommunityshelter.org or visit greenvillecommunityshelter.org/volunteer

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