(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

(soft music) - Just ahead on "Carolina Impact."

- Feeding your family isn't always easy these days, but there is help out there.

I'm Jeff Sonier.

We'll show you how this Loaves and Fishes Warehouse is putting food on the table for those unable to pay those higher grocery bills.

- Plus when someone goes missing, there's no time to prepare.

We'll take you to Lincoln County to follow along on the training process of search and rescue crews.

And we meet Agustine County man named Art who is really into creating unique art.

It's likely something you've never seen before.

"Carolina Impact" starts, now.

(upbeat music) (wind whooshing) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burket.

Higher prices mean we're all paying more at the grocery store.

But for many here in Charlotte, paying more isn't an option.

If you're out of work or on a fixed income, it could mean going hungry.

And that's where local charities like Charlotte's Loaves and Fishes can help.

"Carolina Impact's" Jeff Sonier and videographer, Doug Stacker show us how they feed families in need.

- Yeah, imagine a sellout crowd at Bank of America Stadium for a Panthers game.

And another sellout crowd at Spectrum Center for a Hornet's game.

And another sellout crowd at Truist Field for a Knight's game.

Well, that's how many people in a single year get free groceries from this Loaves and Fishes Warehouse.

Those are folks who are out there struggling to make ends meet, who otherwise might not get enough to eat.

(soft music) (cans clanking) There's a week's worth of meals in every cardboard box sliding down the assembly line.

- My job today is the vegetables and this one has got sweet peas, sweet carrots.

- [Jeff] More than 1600 meals on every loaded pallet rolling through the warehouse aisles.

(soft music) - Well, I heard we've already packed our second pallet.

I don't know what a pallet is, but it's a lot.

- [Jeff] Over 11,000 meals packaged up on this morning alone by Loaves and Fishes volunteers.

(soft music) - To see how much you can put together in that short period of time is incredible.

(soft music) The vegetables, you can always mix vegetables with rice or pasta.

If you get creative, there's a lot of dishes you can do with canned goods.

(cans thudding) - Feeding people feels was good.

- [Jeff] But Tina Postel the CEO of Loaves & Fishes says it's not just about their growing numbers.

- We fed over 10,000 people in one month's time.

- [Jeff] But also about all those faces behind the numbers.

- We're seeing seniors on fixed incomes.

We're seeing working families.

The middle class is feeling the pinch too, and they're gainfully employed, but they're living paycheck to paycheck.

So almost half of who we serve are children and seniors.

(soft music) - [Jeff] And for now at least putting food on their tables means putting these groceries in the trunk.

Loading up boxes and bags that become meals on wheels for that once a week, Loaves & Fishes delivery.

(trunk closes) (soft music) - [Neil] So I can drive all over the city.

- [Jeff] We're riding with Neil Tottle, a Loaves & Fishes volunteer.

- Our route today is four stops.

- [Jeff] Who completes that connection with Loaves & Fishes climb.

- [Navigator] Take the next try not to Griffin Street.

- [Jeff] From the food warehouse to their house.

- This is all fresh.

We've got apples and tomatoes and cabbage and potatoes and all kinds of good stuff.

(soft music) So I'm off to the first delivery.

- [Jeff] And despite all the drop-offs on his busy schedule today, Tottle isn't too busy for a little extra help now and then.

(door knocking) - Most of what I get is they come to the door, they open the door and they say thank you.

And I do kind of hang around in case there's somebody I hang just for a minute, in case there's somebody that can't bring it inside for themselves.

Some of them, I have a customer that she can't leave her apartment.

She's just not that healthy.

So you know for people like that we're a godsend because they can't go anywhere.

(soft music) - What's in this warehouse on any given day?

- Well, what you're looking like...

So this is some of the purchased vegetables that we've gotten.

- [Jeff] Another challenge for Loaves & Fishes is finding a way to pay for the extra food they need to feed so many more families now.

(soft music) - We try and keep at least a six month supply of food and then of course as much fresh produce as we can get our hands on.

You know, we wanna be well prepared.

- [Jeff] And extra food also means finding extra space, especially for big donations of perishable items.

- I only have two walk-in coolers right now and it is not uncommon for me to get a phone call from a local distributor who has a tractor trailer load of strawberries.

"Tina, can you take 24 pallets of strawberries?"

I would love nothing more than to take 24 pallets of strawberries, but those have to be refrigerated and I can only take three pallets.

(soft music) - [Jeff] That won't be a problem here at the new Loaves & Fishes Hunger Hub off I85, it's a much bigger warehouse with more and bigger coolers too.

For the fresh food that clients want most.

- I never want to turn food away, especially when it's fresh and healthy.

So having 10 times the amount of cold storage, I'll say yes to it all.

Hey Janice.

- [Jeff] The Loaves & Fishes Hunger Hub also has plans for a big commercial kitchen to prepare the hot meals they deliver in their friendship trays program.

(soft music) - How many bananas?

- Get a bunch.

- [Jeff] And a teaching kitchen, so families who shop healthy for themselves in these Loaves & Fishes free pantries can also learn how to cook healthy for themselves.

Turning that cart full of no-cost groceries.

- I got spaghetti, I got some hamburger, I got some canned goods.

I got some vegetables.

- [Jeff] Into a better breakfast, lunch and dinner.

- And this place is amazing.

They have probably saved my life a couple times.

Let me come in here and get groceries.

- [Jeff] Got a full cart today.

- I know it's a blessing.

(Nikki laughs) And they make me feel really welcome when I come in here.

- That's the heart of our operation, that love that dignity because we will feed you.

Like it's just working up the courage to make the phone call and tell somebody that you need help.

(soft music) - The CEO of Loaves & Fishes adds that a lot of their clients are facing a perfect storm of not just those higher food prices, but also the end of government help programs after Covid.

And for them struggling to get back on their feet and to get enough to eat often starts right here in this warehouse with those weekly free groceries.

Amy?

- Thank you so much Jeff.

To find out how to help or how to get help, click on the link to our Loaves & Fishes story on the "Carolina Impact" Page of our website @pbscharlotte.org.

Well, you've likely heard the phrase, "When there's an emergency, there's no time to train."

Having a robust search and rescue team is a vital part of a rapidly growing community.

Now, when someone is missing in Lincoln County, a specialized group of law enforcement officers answers the call.

"Carolina Impact's" Rochelle Metzger and photojournalist John Branscomb introduce us to the land search team and shows us how they train for a crisis.

(wind whooshing) - [Rochelle] In the dark, just before daybreak on a humid, rainy August morning, a group of first responders gathers in a high school parking lot in Lincolnton.

- [Trent] Mr.

Billing went missing sometime during the night.

He's walked off.

- [Rochelle] Commander Trent Carpenter leads this 23 member unit.

- Had a backpack with him and a hat.

- [Rochelle] Which includes personnel from the Lincoln County Fire and EMS Departments and the sheriff's office.

- They volunteered to be on the team and serve their community in a time of need in a special way.

- [Rochelle] When someone goes missing in the county and surrounding areas, the land search team answers the call.

There's no time to waste no matter the weather.

This is actually a drill.

The team is conducting a mock search for an elderly man missing from a nearby nursing facility.

The squad runs urban training exercises four times a year to build group cohesion and to keep their skills sharp.

Tyler Chapman is a team leader.

- I kind of get a game plan.

Here's our area, this is where we're gonna start.

We're gonna look high, low in, out, walk through anything somebody can get in under or behind.

- [Rochelle] Planning section Chief Darren Ledford coordinates the search from the Mobile Command center.

Tracking multiple teams across a wide grid area is a strategic effort.

- We're looking at path of travel for the victim where they may go, any roadways, any power lines or any trails or anything like that.

- [Rochelle] Crews have 100 acres of land to cover traversing woods and fields in the heat and rain.

In these conditions, observation skills are key.

- During the search, what we're looking for is A, any clues.

Whether that's soda bottles, maybe they dropped their wallet.

- [Rochelle] But sometimes there are no clues.

Those are some of the toughest cases according to Ledford.

- It's a lot of stress, so when you get that one clue, it's just a big morale booster.

It sort of gives you that, you know, drive to continue on.

- [Rochelle] Ledford and other team members vividly were called back in April, 2021 when 13 year old Taylor Falls went missing from her Cherryville home.

The teen has a rare heart condition, is non-verbal and suffers from seizures.

Falls' mom, Nichole Lanier.

- It was horrible.

It was a nightmare.

- [Rochelle] Chapman says The Land Search Team faced some unique challenges.

They were looking for a teen who wouldn't respond to their calls.

And they didn't have a single lead to go on.

- The family hadn't seen her, she snuck out at night.

She doesn't talk, she doesn't verbalize anything.

They didn't know what she was wearing when she left.

We had nothing.

- Like I said, we seen an ambulance come pulling up.

- [Rochelle] Lanier's cousin Lynette Upton gets emotional thinking back to that day and how she nearly lost the young girl she loves so much.

- She's patiful.

She's pretty and beautiful.

That used to be her favorite word.

Patiful.

- [Rochelle] Upton says she felt helpless but assured as she watched Lincoln County Searchers and other law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to find Falls.

- They cared and they were tough and strong and knew exactly what they were doing.

- Like eight hours later we got a footprint and that gave us, you know, hope and we were able to find her alive.

- [Rochelle] Alive.

But unconscious.

Falls and her family were reunited at the hospital.

- It was like a moment of answered prayers for me.

(upbeat music) - [Rochelle] The squad has plenty of tools in its arsenal to aid search efforts on land, including this two member tactical team.

The Deputy Sheriff Morgan Ginther and her canine partner Marty.

- Marty does trailing, which is looking for missing people.

He does article search, which is if somebody throws something from a car like a gun, an ID, something from a vehicle, he can locate that as well.

And he also locates illegal narcotics.

(drone revving) - [Rochelle] The team also includes drone pilots who can use color detection and thermal imaging to pick a body heat or a person's clothing in areas that are hard to access on foot.

- We can give them eyes in the sky for the land search crews, if they miss something and we see something, we can tell 'em, "Hey, you just passed that."

- [Rochelle] Searchers in the field also use the CalTopo app.

- Now with the technology, our guys on their cell phones, we can track 'em in the field.

We can see it live data on the map.

I mean, oh gosh, technology has helped our job immensely.

- [Rochelle] The Land Search Team averages six missing persons a year.

The most common missing person categories are older males and those with dementia.

On average, they go missing less than a half mile from where they were last seen and found in about an hour.

But the sad reality is not all searches end in rescues.

- Even if we didn't recover a said person alive, we still brought that person back to their family.

- [Rochelle] "Those days are the hardest," Chapman says, so he holds on to the happy endings.

- I owe them my life because she is my life.

I owe them.

Thank you so many.

I don't know so many thank yous.

- [Rochelle] A mother forever grateful to the many strangers who brought her baby girl safely back home.

For "Carolina Impact."

I'm Rochelle Metzger.

- Thank you Rochelle.

The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons currently has 704 active cases.

So far in the year 2023, there have been a total of 9,917 cases across the state.

Authorities say if a loved one goes missing, don't wait 24 or 48 hours.

Report it as soon as you have concerns.

Well, kids across the region are all back in school now.

This year, Endhaven Elementary celebrates its 20th anniversary.

To mark that milestone, the school partnered with the Arts and Science Council to create a mural.

Here's the special twist to the project.

The school's art teacher and a visiting artist worked with each and every child in the school to contribute to the mural.

The children learn that art can tell a story.

Each class picked a subject to showcase their story.

The mural emphasizes a sense of community across our region.

You'll find everything in the mural from the uptown buildings to ballantine arches and all the way to the smallest insects.

(wind whooshing) (soft music) - You're gonna roll over it.

(soft music) - I made a North Carolina wildflower.

- I picked a lady bug.

- I made a self portrait.

- Mine bug was a black widow.

- I like this one.

- I like this.

- I wanted the individual children's art to be celebrated.

So I came up with this blank kind of colorful pattern for them to then fill in with their ideas.

And so that when you stand back it reads as one whole mural.

But their individual artwork is so small that it invites you in.

The center of the mural, that's where our students have some self portraits.

Those self portraits represent what Endhaven is about, the students.

- I made a Plott Hound and it is the state dog of North Carolina.

- I made the yellow jacket and it represents nature.

(upbeat music) - I wanted them to feel like their art is important, that art can help them have a sense of community, and that they as small artist, are just as important as the famous ones.

And now their art is up there they are, they're Endhaven famous.

- And I like this house.

- I feel as if our school is an important part of our community.

And so this is just kind of the coming together of that community piece and allows our students the opportunity to, you know, really be a part of something and see themselves and how they fit into our community here.

- It's a grasshopper because I wanted to be different than anyone at my table, so I picked this.

- The school funding opportunities program is county funded for the Arts and Science Council to serve as a matchmaker between cultural providers that are listed in our provider directory and schools around the county.

The purpose is to bring cultural providers into the schools or to bring schools to cultural providers to create programming opportunities where students can have learning experiences that they might not otherwise have in the classroom.

- [Katherine] Good.

Remember, pick it up.

Go in different directions.

- I was a visiting artist and I collaborated with Catherine the teacher.

We came in and we planned together.

So it was truly an integrated lesson, a collaboration from the beginning.

And she had the main concept.

I came up with the idea of stamping because she wanted to include every student in the school.

So the idea of stamping, they could do the work in the classroom and then we could bring them down here.

- You use a pen to dent over pencil.

That's how you make it deeper.

- You're gonna go back and forth, make a nice even layer.

- I liked the printing and you would put it on here, hold it on the wall, hold it for about 10 to 15 seconds and then boom, it's on there.

- Okay, press it and hold it, don't let it slide.

Good job.

All right.

And then peel it off.

Tada.

Good job.

Nice work.

- With Ms. Hutchens, I learned how to do different patterns - Because we both got to see each other's work and I know he practiced hard on this and so did I.

- When you walk into the school building, you get a sense of community.

You get different children working together and it's just like one big family.

- I know we put very much hard work, dedication and it was very fun to work on.

Yeah, I'm very proud.

- I made a stink bug.

- I made a lady bug.

- Everyone like did a piece in this.

So it's everyone's artwork really.

It's not just one person's.

- And to know my daughter will have her print there and for however many years it's here on the wall.

I mean it's special to her.

She's even said that to me that to have something be a part of the school going forward, even though she won't be here anymore, she's proud of that.

- They know that this is something that other students can enjoy and that also they're paying back in a way to the school.

A little piece of their art for us to always have up there and remember that by.

- Over 700 students worked on the project and it took about six months to complete.

The mural will be officially presented at an unveiling ceremony on September 28th during the school's curriculum night.

Well, the dictionary describes art as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form.

Works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty and emotional power.

Now, art itself comes in all sorts of forms from photography to drawing, painting and sculptures.

Just about anything creative can be considered art.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis found Agustine County man who just happens to be named Art, who created something pretty unique by turning an everyday object into art.

(wind whooshing) - Well, welcome to my garage.

- [Jason] His garage is filled with all the things you'd expect to find in a typical garage.

There's beach chairs and coolers, lawnmowers and golf clubs, Halloween and Christmas supplies and wreaths, even a kayak and bins, lots of plastic bins.

But it's what's inside those bins that sets this particular garage apart.

- I ran outta space in the house, so I had to start stacking 'em together and I put 'em in these bins here just to get 'em outta the way.

- [Jason] The garage serves not only as a storage unit, but also an art studio.

- I always start with the subject's right eye.

I draw it first.

(upbeat music) - Ironically enough, the word art appears in both his first and last name.

Art Cozart.

- This is quite a coincidence.

- [Jason] And it's what Art is drawing on that's the most unique and what fills those bins.

Styrofoam cups.

- It wasn't planned, I can tell you.

- [Jason] Take a look for yourself from movie and television stars like the three stooges plus Shemp.

007, James Bond, Groucho Marx, Redd Foxx from "Sanford and Son," the cast of "Jaws" plus the shark.

- I like the ones the movie stars.

He has done some of the best movie star cups you would ever believe.

- [Jason] There's Rodney Dangerfield and Mrs. Doubtfire, Eddie Munster, Spock from "Star Trek," the Cleaver Brothers from "Leave It to Beaver" and the cast of "Gilligan's Island."

- All those series in that timeframe of TV shows, which we both loved.

- [Jason] He's drawn musicians like the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, Ted Nugent, Mick Jagger, and the recently departed Jimmy Buffett.

- I couldn't name too many stars that are present day, I guess.

My mind is still in the past.

- [Jason] All told the number of cups that Art has drawn.

- [Art] Probably two or 3000 I would say.

- [Jason] And this particular form of art, all happened by accident.

- He doodled occasionally, but not, no, this came out of nowhere.

- [Jason] For 38 years, Art worked as a baggage handler at Charlotte Douglas Airport.

- Parking planes and all that good stuff.

(soft music) - [Jason] One day in late 2000 after finishing a cup of coffee, Art grabbed a pen and started doodling.

- And the cup was just something I had in handy.

It was just something that was right there and I could use it, that's what I did.

- [Jason] The drawings had airport themes, like a jet way, an Evel Knievel jumping over a row of baggage carts.

- After that, I just got in a habit and if I had an empty cup, I'd take my ball point pen and start drawing things on it.

I would draw funny stuff, trying to get a laugh outta my coworkers.

- [Jason] For Art, it became the perfect way to kill a little downtime between loading and unloading planes.

And soon coworkers began making requests.

- I was kind of tentative at first.

Tried to draw a person I hadn't really drawn any people but I started doing it and the more I did it, the easier it got.

- He'd been doing this about two years.

Okay, then maybe three.

And his work had really gotten really good.

- [Jason] Wife Nancy put out the word and soon Art was getting all sorts of media attention.

Had displays in local museums and visited with kids in schools.

- I never thought it would take off like that, but it did.

It's been a blessing from God.

- [Jason] Nancy even set up a website to start selling some of Art's art.

- I thought it would be a great idea.

I still do.

- But that wasn't any fun trying to sell 'em.

People were buying 'em, you know, I wasn't really killing, I'd say I sold a few of 'em, but it became a chore.

It's not the same as just drawing something that I wanted to draw or just drawing it for a friend.

- [Jason] A typical cup takes Art about an hour to complete, and every cup he draws on is one he drank out of.

- Probably 99.9% of them.

- [Jason] As his skills developed, so too did his arsenal of tools.

From a straight ballpoint pen in the early days to an array of fine point pens and sharpies now.

He even uses a golf tee to help make indentations and shadows.

- Like if I'm trying to get some extra shade up around the corner of the eye, I'll reach in there with the tip.

- [Jason] During my visit to his home in Stanley, Art rendered a drawing of me.

- I always have to look at a picture when I draw, I can't just do it off the top of my head.

So it's a very important part, trying to get to get the eyes right.

And after I get that first eye done, I'll measure the width of it and I'll use that to determine the distance between the eyes.

- [Jason] With meticulous precision, Art goes from the eyes to the eyebrows, then to the rest of the face.

His eyes constantly going back and forth from the picture to the cup.

The finished product, well see for yourself.

And you retired when?

- September of 2020.

- [Jason] Retiring three years ago.

Art has transferred his skills over to wood burning, creating the likes of Jim Morrison, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty.

Clint Eastwood as Outlaw Josie Wales, John Wayne from "True Grit," Don Knotz as Barney Fife from "The Andy Griffith Show."

And even North Carolina's outer banks lighthouses.

- I've been told these things may be worth tens of dollars someday.

- [Jason] And Art isn't the only artist in the family.

Nancy is an award-winning photographer herself.

- I love photography.

Wildlife photography is one of my favorite things to do.

Love that and I love to do a lot of wildlife paintings.

That's what I love.

That's what I do.

- [Jason] It's nice to know that Art, runs throughout the Cozart family.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Jason Terzis reporting.

- Thanks so much, Jason.

As it turns out, creativity runs in the family.

Nancy's great-grandfather was a traveling artist who taught penmanship throughout the North Carolina Mountains.

Art and Nancy's three children also expressed their creativity in a variety of ways.

Well, we had a great variety in this first show of our 11th season, tonight on "Carolina Impact."

We would love to spotlight the great stories in your area.

Please email me your ideas to stories@wtvi.org.

Well, that's all the time we have for this evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight my friends.

(wind whooshing) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.