Hope Center to open Thursday, June 18

HOPE CENTER DONATION – (From left) Chad Daniel, Hope Center Board President, Ken and Alice Hacker. Chad is receiving a $5,000 donation from Ken and Alice Hacker for the Hope Center.

You may have heard the buzz about a new food pantry coming to town. Actually the Hope Center, as it is called, came from the minds of several individuals who wanted to see a “united” community effort in helping the food insecure people in our area. The Hope Center will combine several food pantries in town, including the Church of Christ Food Pantry, the First Christian Church Food Pantry, and the Ministerial Association Food Pantry that has been housed in the old Presbyterian Church building downtown which is owned by the Church of Nazarene. The idea behind the Hope Center is to have a one-stop, one-shop non-denominational food pantry, as well as a distribution site for Cedar County commodities.

The address of the Hope Center is 505 E. Fields. It is a 1,200 sq. ft. metal building that was purchased earlier this month. Work is being done to gravel the parking lot, update the inside floor, walls and ceiling and provide and safe and secure food distribution site for everyone in the community. The food pantry will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Commodities will be distributed as they have been in the past on the third Thursday of the month from 8:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m. Those who have already registered and qualify for either of the programs will automatically be included. For more information on our program guidelines, please visit us during our hours of operation.

The Hope Center has monthly financial responsibilities to satisfy, and it will be run solely on donations. We would like to encourage you, your church, or any organizations and clubs you are involved in to consider giving generously to help this ministry thrive. The Hope Center plans to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early June and will be open for business on June 18.

For further information about the new Hope Center, contact Chad Daniel, President of the Hope Center Board, at 417-448-0094.