BOONE, N.C. — Catherine Massey knows struggle.

What You Need To Know

Musicians Mission of Mercy has started a compassionate commissary program to fill food boxes

It is trying to get food to people in remote areas

It's in need of donations to fill as many boxes as possible

"I was a single mom, and I was a radio host at the top show in Columbia, South Carolina," Massey said.

Her kids never went hungry, but she did. That's the reason she says it's important to never judge anyone.

"You really don't know," Massey said.

She has made it her life's mission to feed people. She has been doing it for more than 20 years. Two years ago she started the compassionate commissary program in the nonprofit Musicians Mission of Mercy.

"I would pass these areas that looked like they had just been dropped out of a Third World country," Massey said.

She learned just how many people lived off the grid in the mountains. One family in particular stuck out.

"He said, 'I can't stand the thought of my wife standing in line for food,' so there's mountain pride. People in the mountains are self-sufficient," Massey said.

This program is for them. Massey and volunteers fill boxes of food and place them in areas all around Ashe and Watauga counties to be picked up discreetly.

"When you don't have food, you lose hope, and when you lose hope terrible things happen," Massey said.

They don't know who shows up to get the boxes or what their income is. They don't want to know. They just want people eating.

"Just beyond the mountains, just beyond the hills, are people that really don't have enough to eat. I can't stand the thought of an elderly person eating dog or cat food, but that has happened," Massey said.

Massey is in need of donations to help supply as many food boxes as she can. You can donate on her website.