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!

The Good Shepherd Ministries: Joining the Fight Against Hunger

Posted on December 2, 2015 by hopecenterhagerstown

We’d like to say a big “thank you” to the awesome people from The Good Shepherd Ministries in Hagerstown!

Recently, The Good Shepherd Ministries hosted a church-wide food drive to benefit The Hope Center.

Andrea Reaves, wife of Assistant Pastor Brad, and grand-daughter of The Hope Center founders Jim & Ellen Resh, organized the food drive for the church.

The church provided approximately 460 pounds of non-perishable food for our food ministry! We are so thankful for their generous donation to help feed the needy in Hagerstown.

Our food program is one of the most vital parts of our entire ministry for our guests. From food bags to multiple free meals throughout the day, our kitchen and pantry is always busy, and sometimes short on necessary items.

Food drives, like the one hosted by The Good Shepherd Ministries, are an important resource for our ministry. When you feed hundreds of people a week while also providing families with bags of groceries to supplement their own pantries, you can go through a lot of food. Food drives ensure that our pantry is always stocked and ready to meet the needs of our community.

Since everything we do at The Hope Center is free, and free from any tax money, we rely heavily on the generous support from churches, individuals, civic clubs, Scout programs and more to help keep our facility open, operational and free for anyone who is in need.

Thank you again to The Good Shepherd Ministries for partnering with us to help combat hunger in Hagerstown. If you’re currently looking for a church to attend, visit The Good Shepherd Ministries. For more info about this great body of Believers, go to http://www.mytgsm.com.

If you would like to host a food drive to benefit The Hope Center but just aren’t quite sure how to do so, contact us and we’ll gladly help you out. Call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

And don’t forget that in April our 2nd Annual Rock the Run: A Race for Hope is taking place at Fairgrounds Park. On Saturday April 23rd, join fellow runners, joggers & walkers as we hit the streets to raise support and awareness for homelessness and hunger in Hagerstown. It’s a simple and fun way to make a difference in the community and help neighbors in need. Go to http://www.rocktherunhagerstown.com to learn more.

Nurses Bring Hope to the Community

Posted on August 11, 2014 by hopecenterhagerstown

As we all know, nurses are caring individuals. They help make visiting the doctor, preparing for medical procedures, and overnights at the hospital a little less frightening.

Recently, some area nurses showed us just how loving & caring they truly are.

On June 19th, some nurses from Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown visited The Hope Center at Hagerstown Rescue Mission. Our visitors are registered nurses working on their BSN degree.

They are all students in a class about community support agencies and their professor, Barbara Friend, R.N., PhDc from Notre Dame of Maryland University, recommended they visit The Hope Center and learn about the various community outreach programs that take place at our facility.

The students were given a tour by Executive Director Sonny Shank, who took them all over our facilities and spent some time with the nurses going over all the programs and services we offer free to the community.

For a majority of the nurses, this was their very first time seeing and learning about the many things The Hope Center does in the community. Our new friends left the tour with a better understanding of The Hope Center and the constant work we do reaching the community.

As a result of their visit, the nurses organized a food drive and also requested cash donations from co-workers at Meritus.

In early July they presented The Hope Center with 750 pounds of non-perishable food and a very generous cash gift.

We are so thankful for these wonderful nurses who, not only help to care for us and our community at their offices, but also want to help feed and care for those in our community who are struggling in other ways.

Their food and financial donations will help to reach hundreds of thousands of people, including children, families, men addicted to various substances, the hungry and homeless.

It’s a great feeling to know that we have a nursing and medical staff in our area who truly care about helping others.

Thank you Barbara Friend, nurses, and the rest of the staff at Meritus who donated much needed resources for us to continue to provide many basic needs for free to our community.

Thank You, John Wesley Day Nursery!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by hopecenterhagerstown

Recently, the wonderful children at John Wesley Day Nursery collected brand new winter hats, gloves & scarves to give to needy families in Hagerstown.

The children decorated a Christmas tree in their school with all the various winter items donated!

We are so thankful that the generous children at John Wesley Day Nursery give to other kids in need. For the past several years the school has been collecting new winter items for families in our area.

Thank you, John Wesley Day Nursery for demonstrating the true spirit of the season!

John Wesley Day Nursery is located at 129 N. Potomac Street in Hagerstown. For more information about this wonderful day nursery, please visit http://jw-umc.org/jw-day-nursery/.

Local Girl Scouts Give Hope

Posted on December 7, 2012 by hopecenterhagerstown

The Girl Scouts from Troop 40002 visited The Hope Center on November 17th and brought with them blankets that the girls had made themselves to donate to our shelter.

While here, the girls and their leaders met some of the men who are enrolled in our 13-month program. The girls learned about our emergency shelter as well as our long-term program.

We’re so thankful that these young ladies have a heart to help their neighbors in need. And it’s very important that children are aware of the needs of others and learn about ways to help give back to their community.

If you would like information on how you can get involved, just like the Girl Scouts, please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

The Hope Center of Hagerstown

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

Tag Archives: giving to others