Charlie Cunningham was going to work one winter morning and found a young woman in a nightgown and three children in pajamas waiting to get inside the Christian Laymen store in Greensburg.

"They had been waiting there for three hours," he said. "It was 20 degrees outside. She told me her boyfriend had kicked her out, so we gave her some clothes and other things."

That kind of situation isn't unusual for Mr. Cunningham, who founded Christian Laymen Corps, a thrift store that funds services for the needy in Westmoreland and Fayette counties and out-of-state areas of Appalachia.

On April 23, he was honored for his community service at the 2009 Communities of Salt and Light Awards, sponsored by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg.

The award was established 11 years ago "to recognize the individuals whose deeds exhibit a significant level of [giving] time, talent and treasure."

Mr. Cunningham, of Unity, is a member of Our Lady of Grace parish in Hempfield. He received the Humanitarian Award, and Richard and Christine Zappone, of Greensburg, received the Philanthropy Award for their involvement in the community.

The Mother Teresa Outreach of Mother of Sorrows parish, in Murrysville, won the award for Outstanding Human Services Organization.

Mr. Cunningham, who will be 80 next month, spent 46 years as a sales representative for five furniture factories. Before retiring, he was involved in local work for the Christian Appalachian Project in Kentucky.

Then in 2001, after dividing eight years of his retirement time between here and Florida, he decided to stay in Westmoreland County and start a local ministry.

He had no idea how much need existed in his own area.

"People will come in all the time and say, 'Charlie, I need to talk to you,' " he said.

"I've had a couple living in a tent by the railroad tracks and coming in here for food, and a fellow living under one of our trailers who lost his home.

"I didn't know that in Greensburg, so many people are living on the streets. I just want to help people who need it."

It's not just a thrift store, he added. There's an emergency food pantry that is open daily, and people frequently come in with vouchers from local agencies to receive free furniture.

Mr. Cunningham's wife, Aline, coordinates the schedules for 54 volunteers who come from 15 faith backgrounds. All are always busy.

Christian Laymen has assisted 5,914 families in Westmoreland County and has given 14,604 handouts of emergency food.

It has four trucks that haul clothing, furniture, household goods and other items to mission centers in West Virginia and Kentucky. So far, the trucks have made 542 runs, and every delivery is appreciated.

"They bring such a variety of stuff," said Chris Mullet, director of Clarksburg Mission in West Virgina, which serves more than 3,000 meals to the homeless and needy each month.

"They bring thousands of pounds of clothes. What we don't use in our thrift store, we bale and send to Canada, where they separate it by types of material. Some goes to rags or to thrift stores in Canada, and even to Third World countries as clothing.

"We get money for that, and we use it to house and feed people. Everything they bring us helps, and it's of utter importance to our work."

Mr. Cunningham recently started a program called A Bed for Every Child, which provides a new bed, linens and a new wooden dresser to children in need. So far, the project has given 170 beds and 80 dressers, at $365 a set, all of it funded by donations.

The referrals come from Westmoreland County Children's Bureau; the Blackburn Center Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Westmoreland Case Management and Supports Inc.; Westmoreland Community Action; and the Pennsylvania Homeless Children's Initiative.

"There are a lot of children who end up in foster homes because their mothers are unable to give them things," Mr. Cunningham said. "This program, in many cases, will prevent that.

"Also, many kids are in foster homes, and their parents can't get them back until they provide things, like beds, for them."

The program is receiving a lot of community support, and Mr. Cunningham expects that Christian Laymen will provide beds and dressers to at least 20 families each month. He also plans to start a similar program to donate cribs.

"It seems like the biggest needs for people are furniture and children's clothing," Mr. Cunningham said. "We always need more than we can get."

For more information or to make donations, contact Christian Laymen Corps, 258 E. Pittsburgh St., Greensburg, PA 15601, 724-834-4464.