No. 8: BUCM Announces Move

After finding out it had to move from the home it had occupied for more than two decades, Burke United Christian Ministries searched long and hard for a new one.

In April, the longstanding local charity organization found just the place.

The charity, which has been providing food, services, and support to those in need since 1975, had been at its current location, 305 W. Union St. in downtown Morganton, for 22 years. But in early 2023, the owners of that building, Burke Charitable Properties, announced they were putting it up for sale. That decision sent BUCM on a quest that took more than a year.

Finally, BUCM Executive Director Alice Horton announced in April that the search committee had located a suitable spot to relocate, the former Food Lion grocery store on East Fleming. The new building has numerous advantages over the old one, most notably its size — 44,000 square feet to 28,000.

In addition, the interior of the former grocery store is almost devoid of partitions, so the space offers the new owners a blank slate where design is concerned. There is plenty of room for the mission and its thrift store, with space left over for partner organizations to set up shop. Early schematic renderings include a large central kitchen, classroom/training space, and a warehouse.

The move is expected to cost $5 million, and the charity was more than halfway to that goal by the time it celebrated with a “ground blessing” ceremony in mid-September.

Currently, BUCM is still raising money via its “God’s Heart, Our Home” capital campaign, and Horton hopes the move can be completed during the first half of 2025.

The ministry feeds approximately 8,000 food-insecure residents, and the soup kitchen serves more than 43,000 meals each year.

Some downtown residents have complained about Morganton’s homeless population in recent years, saying BUCM has become a gathering spot. But the ministry has paid them little mind and carried on with its mission. A spirit of joyfulness was pervasive at the ground blessing in September.

“Today is more than just a ceremonial moment,” Horton said that day. “It’s a celebration of how far we’ve come in the past 49 years. Forty-nine years, and we’re going to have a new building at year 50. We’re going to have a new building. Amen.”