Cooks for Christ founder awarded Order of Silver Crescent

FLORENCE — The secret was solid and Henry Brunson of Cooks for Christ fame was totally surprised when he was presented the prestigious Order of the Silver Crescent on Friday night at Calvary Baptist Church.

The Order of the Silver Crescent is awarded to state residents “for exemplary performance, contribution and achievement within the community.” It is the state’s highest award for volunteer and/or community service.

Brunson, 69, is Latta’s fire chief. He founded Cooks for Christ, a volunteer group that raises money for critically ill individuals. It also raises money to build churches in such places as Africa and Romania.

Brunson was contacted Wednesday by a Morning News reporter about doing a feature story on him. He had no idea the feature would contain information about a representative of Gov. Mark Sanford’s office presenting him the Order of the Silver Crescent.

Brunson said he got the idea for Cooks for Christ in the early 1980s when he was working at Stone Container Corp. An employee passed away and his widow needed help. Brunson formed a group at Stone Container called We Care.

Following two huge benefits in 1991 and 1992, Brunson said he started thinking about starting a ministry to help people.

“The ministry wasn’t about me, it was about serving my Lord Jesus Christ,” the Latta native said. “I’ve been given so many blessings that I wanted to give back some of them. I’m a people person and truly believe in helping people when they are down and out.”

Brunson formed a committee and he came up with the name Cooks for Christ. He said he decided on that name because “Christ was always in the middle of our cooking.”
Chicken bog, slaw, green beans and bread are the group’s cornerstone. And it isn’t just a matter of casually throwing things together.

“It’s a two-day affair that involves around 150 people because delivering plates takes a lot of volunteers,” Brunson said. “We get everything prepared on Wednesday so that we are ready to go on Thursday.”

The fundraisers are held at the West Florence Fire Department. Brunson has about 10 a year with at least five weeks in between each event.

“The West Florence firemen are super people to let us go in there and use their facilities,” he said. “We literally take over for two days.”

Brunson said the Florence area has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help.

“You would be surprised how many wonderful people and merchants you have in this community,” he said. “My hat is off to all of them. I sincerely thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

Brunson has the organization and scheduling of chicken bogs down to a science because “you have to know what you are doing when you are serving 3,000 or more people.”

Meanwhile, Brunson will be going on a mission trip to Africa in June.

“I believe in serving my Lord wherever I go,” he said. “We won’t fail as long as we put him in our path.”