Shelly Parker, a member of East Side Grace Brethren Church, Blacklick, Ohio (Beau Stanley, senior pastor), was honored last week during the Young at Heart festival, which is sponsored by The Columbus Dispatch and ThisWeek Community News. He and his wife, Miranda, coordinate the food pantry at East Side GBC. An article about the couple appeared in the This Week Community News paper and online. A portion of it appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Gahanna’s Shelly Parker named Senior of the Year

Shelly and Miranda Parker coordinate the food pantry at East Side Grace Brethren Church. (This Week photo)
The 2001 Nissan Frontier with 160,000 miles on its odometer illustrates as well as anything else the commitment of 82-year-old Shelly Parker to others in times of need.
For his efforts, the Gahanna resident was named Senior of the Year and will be honored Thursday, July 25, at the Makoy Center, 5462 Center St., Hilliard, during the Young at Heart festival, which is sponsored by The Columbus Dispatch and ThisWeek Community News.
Shelly and his wife, Miranda, coordinate and operate the food pantry at the East Side Grace Brethren Church in Blacklick.
“We’re simply compelled to do it,” said Miranda, 67.
She said the couple’s faith has led them to do “what we are supposed to do.”
The Parkers, who have been married 23 years, began attending East Side Grace Brethren in 2015 and started to volunteer by distributing small bags of food the parishioners had collected.
Miranda keeps the pantry’s weekly schedule and distributions.
Click here to read the complete article.