The smells of macaroni and cheese, collard greens and fried "chicken" filled the air on Washington Street Saturday. It was like many cookouts in the south, except this one was vegan.

LeRoy White of Healing, Health and Wellness Center, LLC, hosted one of the stores now regular vegan lunch pop-ups on Saturday. People lined up at the door around noon as the tantalizing smells wafted through the rooms at the shop located at 323 S. Washington St., Shelby.

As customers waited for Chef ZiZi, a Charlotte-based vegan chef, to set-up, they talked with other vendors and White about vegan products, the plant-based lifestyle and more. People got a chance to try vegan cupcakes from The Patty House and Bakery before trying some whipped shea butter perfume from Kisses of Shea. Customers could even grab a nibble to go from Powerful Bites.

It was in March when White and Chef ZiZi got together for the first vegan event at the shop since more and more people have been coming to him to learn about veganism.

"I was surprised that we had over 100 people sign up," White said.

He was shocked, but excited, by the number of people.

"My passion was to get people healthy. To me that is the most wonderful thing," White said.

And for White, his passion stems from his journey with food.

It was a decade ago when White got a wakeup call about his health and moved to a plant-based diet.

"I went to the VA for a check-up. She said I was fat and going to die," White said.

It shook White to his core, so the pastor decided he was going to change. With a host of ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis and high cholesterol, White decided to focus on his diet but wasnt too sure what he was doing.

White looked to Gerene Butterfield at the Healing, Health and Wellness Center for help. She told him to go vegan.

"I told her she was crazy, but I did what she said," White said.

He decided to drink smoothies for 30 days. By the time that was done, White was off his diabetes medications and realized veganism was the way to go for him.

As he went through his journey to the all plant-based diet, he noticed his church congregation suffering the same ailments he was slowly starting to see go away.

"I realized it was what we were eating," White said.

Getting vegetarian and vegan products 10 years ago was near difficult in Cleveland County, but White and Butterfield worked together to help others learn more about the plant-based lifestyle. White began by doing educational classes about veganism, emphasizing that the diet consists of more than just salads day-in and day-out.

For several years he talked about his journey to veganism and the changes it made in his life. Then one day, Butterfield asked White if he wanted to take over Healing, Health and Wellness Center.

"To get this building was a blessing," he said.

The Center transformed into a haven for herbalists, people looking to change their lifestyles and those that might just need a friendly chat.

He aims to have products customers might not find in local grocery stores at reasonable prices.

"I know it is a struggle. I know," White said. "We want to make it as convenient as possible for people."

Ten years ago White never dreamed he would be hosting vegan food pop-ups, offering Chef ZiZis line of vegan frozen meals and selling a wide variety of natural organic products and groceries, but now he is dreaming bigger.

His goal is to educate more and more people about living a healthy lifestyle until Cleveland County is no longer number 80 in the state health ratings, but up into the 20s.

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Living the vegan life in Cleveland County - Gaston Gazette