The Support of our Community is Incredible!

Posted on November 6, 2020 by hopecenterhagerstown

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!

On Thursday, November 5th we were awarded a grant of $15,000 from Community Foundation of Washington County MD, Inc. in partnership with United Way of Washington County, Pauline K Anderson Foundation and the Alice Virginia and David W. Fletcher Foundation.

We are so beyond thankful to receive this grant money and are so appreciative of these agencies for all the work they’re doing to help our community during this difficult time.

Our Executive Director, Sonny Shank, is proudly holding the check along with Stacey Crawford (right) of the Community Foundation of Washington County, Heather Guessford (left) of United Way of Washington County, and others representing both organizations.

This grant money will be used to help cover costs associated with providing meals and shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. God has continued to supply our needs in every way during this pandemic and we are always excited to see how God works to keep things operational during this crisis. We are so happy that God gave us a community who values helping others like ours does! It’s been quite a year for all of us but God has remained so faithful to the work of taking care of neighbors in need and spreading His message of HOPE.

Again, we want to say THANK YOU to these organizations and foundations for this extremely generous gift. We appreciate this support so much!

Here’s to a Wonderful 2019!

Posted on December 31, 2019 by hopecenterhagerstown

We’re just hours away from not only a new year but a brand new decade! And with this new year comes another chance to celebrate a milestone: 65 years of The Hope Center at Hagerstown Rescue Mission! We’re so excited to celebrate another year of God’s miraculous work in Hagerstown and surrounding communities. We have some exciting changes in the works and 2020 is the perfect year to kick off a major project that will bless the lives of so many in the decades to come.

But before we jump into 2020, we want to take the opportunity to thank God for all His continued blessings and faithfulness to this ministry and all the amazing things He did and provided in 2019. Each year He continues to amaze us and reminds us that we aren’t in this fight alone. We are truly blessed to have a God who loves us and cares so deeply for this ministry and the people we help each day of the year.

God shows His faithfulness in many ways but one of those ways is with the continued support of people like you. We want to thank each of you for partnering with us to bring the hope of God’s Word to so many people in many different ways. From our daily soup line, to our overnight homeless shelter, to the men in our rehabilitation/life recovery program, to all the precious children who’ve attended a Wildside Youth event, God has done amazing things in 2019 and each of you have been a part of this story.

We look forward to all the great things that God has planned for 2020 and beyond! As we mentioned, 2020 is a big year as we celebrate 65 years of continued hope for our community. But we do have some big news coming that we’ll be sharing with you in the near future. Until then, please continue to help us as we fight the good fight to bring healing to the broken, food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and love to all of God’s people.

To learn more about our programs and services, how to get involved, how to give, or how you can get help, please go to http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com.

And don’t forget to make plans to join us in April for our annual Rock the Run 5K: Pirates vs Princess! We kicked off this race back in 2015 to celebrate our 60th anniversary and here we are still going strong! The 5K is on Saturday, April 25th at Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown. And we’re proud to announce that our Rock the Run 5K: Pirates vs Princess is once again sponsored by our good friends at Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe in Chambersburg. As you plan your New Year’s parties don’t forget to pick up some of their delicious potato rolls! To learn more about our upcoming 5K please visit http://www.rocktherunhagerstown.com.

So as we bid farewell to 2019, join us as we take a quick look back at all the beautiful faces who were a part of our amazing year. From staff, to guests, to volunteers, these smiling faces are what it’s all about! Thank you for helping us have another miraculous year of hope in Hagerstown!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Not Your Average Birthday Girl

Posted on January 13, 2017 by hopecenterhagerstown

We live in a pretty generous area. In fact, the greater Hagerstown region has been so generous and faithful in their support of our ministry that we have never used any government tax money to fund any of our programs or services! Our facilities have remained open and operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since 1955 thanks to people in the community who have shopped in our Thrift Stores, donated funds, gave gently used items and kept our pantry fully stocked.

So we know all about the great people who give so much to our ministry to make sure others who are less fortunate have what they need to help meet their needs.

But every once in a while we are taken aback by the generosity of others.

dsc_0015-2 Let us introduce to you a pint-sized hero in our community: Melanie. Melanie may look like just another 7 year old but Melanie did something that most kids would not do for their birthday – she asked her family and friends to donate non-perishable food to The Hope Center. Her birthday request brought in 118 pounds of food for our pantry!

Melanie’s parents are helping her understand that there are people in her own community who are in need and struggling with hunger and homelessness. Children are never too young to teach the importance of helping others and giving to the less fortunate.

Melanie and her mom were given a tour of the kitchen and dining room where the food will be used to feed those who come for help.

Thank you, Melanie, for your generous birthday donation! We are so thankful for your heart to help others and we hope you help to inspire other young people to follow your lead.

If you would like to join Melanie in donating food or other items to The Hope Center then call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net to learn more.

If you are in need of assistance then contact us immediately. We’re here to help so give us a call!

Superheroes Come in All Sizes

Posted on November 6, 2014 by hopecenterhagerstown

Captain America. Iron Man. Black Widow. Spider-man. We all have our favorite superheroes, whether they wield a hammer, are faster than a speeding bullet, or protect humans with their mutant powers, superheroes make for great stories, spectacular movies, and can teach kids great lessons about helping others.

But what exactly is a superhero? According to Webster’s Dictionary, a superhero is, ” a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person.”

Do superheroes truly exist? Obviously they do. From the men & women of our Armed Forces, to firemen & women, police, and more, there are so many people who give above and beyond the call of human duty to make a difference.

It’s refreshing when a superhero comes in the form of a little boy.

Our superhero, Carson, is quite the little guy. For his birthday, like most little boys, Carson wanted a superhero theme. But his superhero birthday proves just how much of a hero Carson and his family is.

Instead of gifts for Carson, he and his family decided to help others by having party guests donate items to The Hope Center.

Included in the party invitation was a list of the items that are always needed in our pantry. From peanut butter, to sugar, coffee, creamer, cans of vegetables, box dinners, and more, Carson’s family wanted to make sure that they could help keep the hungry in Hagerstown fed.

In addition to items for our pantry, the family asked for other necessary items like paper towels, toilet paper, and napkins. They also gave party attendees the option of donating personal care items like soap, deodorant, shampoo, disposable razors, and shave gel for our overnight homeless guests.

And in the grand tradition of superheroes, every kid who brought a donation received their official superhero cape!

It’s not everyday that a superhero celebrates his birthday in a way that it helps so many people in the community. Carson and his family may never know the full impact of their donation but God sees their generous spirit and we know that He will bless them as much as they blessed us.

We are thankful for parents who teach their kids the importance of giving to others, helping the less fortunate, and showing God’s love to all people.

Happy birthday and thank you, Carson, for being a real superhero! We thank God for you and your family and all the people who helped to make your birthday so special for us!

Up on the Roof

Posted on June 9, 2014 by hopecenterhagerstown

The roof on our Hagerstown Thrift Store was in desperate need of repair and replacement.

This would have been quite a costly investment but fortunately God provided some wonderful volunteers to help fix our roof and cut the costs of this project!

We’re so thankful for the 40 volunteers who worked hard for more than 30 hours tearing off the old roof and putting the new on.

The volunteers were organized by Arnold Horst who was made aware of this need by our former store manager, AJ Imbach who went to Tri-state Fellowship with Arnold when AJ was employed with us.

The majority of volunteers came from Tri-state Fellowship, including the wonderful volunteers who made sure there was plenty of food & drink for our roofers. In addition to the folks from Tri-state Fellowship we had a former Hope Center resident and his parents volunteer, as well as two current residents in our Foundations Life Recovery program.

Our Hagerstown Thrift Store is a rather long building and replacing the roof was definitely not an easy task. These volunteers worked very efficiently and worked so well together that the project got finished quickly.

We really appreciate Arnold Horst for having a heart for this ministry and for taking the time to help organize the volunteers to complete this project. Thanks to these great volunteers we were able to save money that can be used in other areas to help feed families, provide shelter for the homeless and give kids the opportunity to learn about Christ in a safe environment.

While it may just seem that these volunteers replaced a roof, but to someone in need they made a difference for eternity and only God knows the full impact of their volunteer service to The Hope Center.

Volunteers, thank you so much for giving your time and energy to help improve the quality of our facilities!

If you’re looking for a church to attend, why not check out Tri-State Fellowship? The church is located just outside of Hagerstown on the Cearfoss Pike. To learn more about service times, activities or anything else, please go to http://www.tristatefellowship.org.

If you’d like to join the ranks of Hagerstown’s finest volunteers, contact us today. Even if construction is not your thing, we have plenty of other opportunities for you to volunteer. Want to learn more? Go to http://www.volunteerhagerstown.com and take a look at all the various opportunities that are available to you. If you’d like to talk to someone, call 301.739.1165.

The Hope Center of Hagerstown

Confronting Homelessness, Addiction, and Hunger in the name of Christ

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