Connie Cashion is the last person to describe herself as a good Samaritan.
But that doesn't lessen the impact she has in Mid-Missouri. Though quick to point to anyone else, especially the volunteers who help her daily, the truth is the From HIS HOUSE To Your House Free Store in Fulton wouldn't exist without Cashion.
Cashion received the Fisher Family Good Samaritan Award on Saturday. Redemption Inside the Walls and News Tribune partnered for the second year to select five "good Samaritans" who have gone above and beyond to help the Mid-Missouri area.
After receiving 11 nominations, the News Tribune asked the community to vote on who it thought was most deserving of the award. Cashion received the most votes.
Cashion has spent over a decade collecting donations from across Callaway County, sorting the items and giving them to those in need. After about six years of doing it without a facility of any kind, she was finally able to open the store she had dreamed of, a place where all the donated items could be displayed for those in need to come and take without payment -- the free store, which officially opened in Fulton in 2015.
The idea, Cashion explained as people browsed the store filled with items from housewares to children's clothing, was always to simply bring people together -- those who have things they don't need with those who need them.
"Everybody has a store," Cashion said. "Everyone has something to offer. ... We are all important, and we all have something to bring to the table."
It's a way to provide what's needed without government intervention, she said, emphasizing that her process allows everyone to leave with dignity.
"We've got to have a place where we're all accepted. ... When you leave my presence, you'll know that you really did count," Cashion said. "That's what it's about."
As stated in the nomination for Cashion to receive the Fisher Family Good Samaritan Award, Cashion is famous in Fulton for the free store. "Everyone that goes in her store immediately feels welcome and feels her love. ... She is the true version of a loving, giving, sharing woman."
The free store doesn't just refuse payment -- it operates on a zero dollar budget. In 2015, Cashion was given use of the building by the Fulton Housing Authority and utilities are taken care of. The store has no paid staff, only dedicated volunteers, and Cashion is adamant in her refusal to take monetary donations. As for the items that are donated regularly, those can sometimes come from far beyond Mid-Missouri. Cashion said there's a couple of churches in Chicago that give regularly and recalled a large donation of quality towels from someone in Japan who had a pen pal in the area.
While everyone is welcome at the free store, Cashion doesn't let people just take anything. She wants to help provide to those in need, not those in want, she said. People can't come in and just take anything in any amount -- there are rules, whether it's for pet food or dish soap or toiletries. For instance, the free store regularly provides over 1,000 of what they call "a complete set," which is three or more rooms of furniture, per year. But that will only be provided to a family once, Cashion said.
"We are all important, and we all have something to bring to the table ... in here, we're family," Cashion said.
Store hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Cashion said she's always looking for donations, especially for personal hygiene products, but noted she will not accept monetary donations. Donations should be brought to the store when it's open, and Cashion noted they will not accept hide-a-beds, TVs, computers or printers. Sometimes, she said she will post specific needs on the free store Facebook page. She can be reached at 573-253-4323.
Cashion said she's not one for awards and didn't want any recognition, quickly pointing out the handful of volunteers at the store who make everything possible.
"I don't like to take the credit that belongs to God," Cashion said. "I am nothing, but the God I serve is worthy."
The other four Fisher Family Good Samaritan Award recipients are: Alicia Edwards, Chris Jarboe, Bill Graham and Jeff Brondel.