Another Great Party-in-the-Park!

Posted on November 11, 2016 by hopecenterhagerstown

On Saturday, October 22nd we hosted our second annual fall Party-in-the-Park at Wheaton Park in Hagerstown.

This Halloween themed event is designed to be an outreach event by going into our surrounding neighborhoods and meeting the many wonderful families and residents of these areas.

Originally meant to be an actual park party, we eventually moved our party into the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center due to high winds. We are very thankful to the staff of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center for offering the building for use for our event. We appreciate being a part of such a kind and giving community!

Even though our event was indoors, that didn’t stop anyone, including our 30 volunteers, from having fun! From games, to face painting, entertainment, food and more our volunteers worked hard to make this event a success.

We enjoy being able to go out into our community to build stronger relations with our neighbors. This may only be our second time hosting this party but it most certainly won’t be our last. We want to build strong bonds with our neighbors so that we can work together to make Hagerstown a better place.

This event was sponsored by our Ladies’ Auxiliary. All the expenses of this event were underwritten by the Auxiliary and we are so thankful for their commitment to this ministry and our community. As you can see our Ladies’ Auxiliary are a very important and beneficial part of The Hope Center. This event and many other events are sponsored by this wonderful group of women. If you are interested in being a part of our Ladies’ Auxiliary then call 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net. We are always looking for more women to get involved and help us keep events like the Party-in-the-Park going year after year.

As successful as this party was, we know that we couldn’t have done it without the help from all of our great volunteers! We firmly believe that we have the best volunteers in the tri-state. Thank you to each of the volunteers who gave hours of their Saturday to help us create so much magic and fun for our guests! We welcome you back to help us with any other event or activity that we’re hosting. And we need to give a special shout out to Gene Ridenour, president of our Board of Directors, and Jeff Reed. Both of these men have been very vital to all of our party events. Gene entertains kids and adults alike with his balloon modeling and Jeff makes everyone happy by being the best grillmaster in Hagerstown! Thank you both for giving of your time to reach our community.

If you’re interested in volunteering at The Hope Center then please go to http://www.volunteerhagerstown.com and learn more about the various ways you can be involved. You can also contact us by calling 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

Volunteers Are the Heart of The Hope Center

Posted on June 23, 2016 by hopecenterhagerstown

In 2015 we celebrated 60 years of hope at The Hope Center. And a major part of what makes it possible for us to continue to provide services to men, women & children for free are all the hours of service given by faithful, caring friends in our community who serve as volunteers at The Hope Center.

Since 1955, The Hope Center has been a lighthouse to the needy in our community. Whether it was a man addicted to alcohol, a mother in need of clothing for her children, or a family who needs some food assistance, our doors have been open everyday to help those in need without asking a dime from any of our guests…or the tax-payer.

Friends, businesses, churches and other groups in the area have financially supported us from the very beginning allowing us to help so many people without being a burden on the tax payer.

But volunteers help supplement all of our finances by providing hours upon hours of compassion and hard work in many different ways at The Hope Center.

As we celebrated our 60th Anniversary in 2015, we had some special events taking place in the community which gave us some new opportunities for volunteers to get involved and make an impact in our city. But many of the areas that volunteers gave so many hours were activities and events that happen on a regular basis at The Hope Center.

In total, we had 719 different volunteers work more than 13,394 hours! That’s incredible! This is exactly why we think that our volunteers are the best!

These volunteers worked throughout the year in one or more of the following areas of service:

Sorting room
Wildside Youth events (www.wildsideyouth.com)
Camp Wild (www.campwildusa.com)
Chapel services
Men’s ministry check-in desk and teaching classes
Off site: baking cakes, making sandwiches, providing food for after chapel (these are on a regular basis)
Outreach: 60th anniversary events (Rock the Run 5K; Party-in-the-Park; Ladies’ Tea; Anniversary banquet); Thanksgiving Day and more.

Our volunteers gave in so many different ways throughout the year. And we’re so thankful for each and every one of them!

But our volunteer opportunities didn’t stop in 2015. We are always looking for volunteers to join the ranks of our volunteer program all the time. We have so many different areas for volunteers to get involved.

In fact, our 2016 Party-in-the-Park will be held on Saturday, October 22 at Wheaton Park in Hagerstown. We are currently looking for volunteers for this fantastic outreach opportunity. This is a great service project for youth groups to get involved with in their own community. We will need volunteers to help with food, games, music, face and nail painting, crowd control, popcorn machine, cotton candy, set up and tear down, etc.

If you, your family & friends, church group, civic club or more would like to volunteer at our upcoming Party-in-the-Park then give us a call today at 301.739.1165 or email us at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net. We welcome you to help us reach our city and provide hope for those in need!

For more information about all the various volunteer opportunities at The Hope Center go to http://www.volunteerhagerstown.com.

Oh, What a Year!

Posted on December 29, 2015 by hopecenterhagerstown

60th-HiRes It’s always amazing how quickly one year can go by. It seems like just yesterday we were finishing plans for our first 60th Anniversary event in the spring.

And now, here we are at the end of 2015 looking back at what a fantastic year of celebration it has been.

In 1955, God called Jim & Ellen Resh to take a leap of faith and move their young family from Cascade, Maryland to downtown Hagerstown to help reach people in need for Christ.

They packed up their family and belongings and started an adventure backed by faith and never looked back.

Now, 60 years later, thousands of lives have been changed thanks to the faith, dedication and hard work of those who have helped keep the vision of hope alive.

We are so thankful for being able to celebrate 60 years of hope in Hagerstown. We are able to do everything that we do without any financial help from the government. Because God has been so faithful by providing for us through the generosity of our community, we’ve been able to help reunite families, mend broken relationships, restore a life destroyed by substance abuse, provide housing for the homeless, give food to the hungry and reach the young generation with the hope of Jesus.

To everyone who has supported us, helped us, prayed with us and worked with us, we want to say a very sincere and genuine, “Thank You”. God has used you to reach people and change lives in a way that none of us will know until we get to Heaven.

These past 60 years are a testament to the people of this community who put others before themselves and share the gifts that God has provided with those in need.

We thank God for the opportunity to be the oldest, continually operational homeless facility in Hagerstown. We’re here to help the least, the last and the lost. We’ve been doing this for 60 years and we don’t plan on stopping any time soon!

Now as the clocks signify the end of one year and the beginning of a new one, we look forward to partnering with you in the future to continue the battle against homelessness, hunger and hopelessness.

Thank you for making 2015, and the past 60 years, so memorable!

Happy New Year! May God bless you and your family in great ways during 2016!

If you’re interested in stepping back in time once more or want to see some of the exciting things that happened during our 60th Anniversary Year of Celebration then go to http://www.hopecenter60.com. Our anniversary website has plenty of pictures, stories and information about The Hope Center and everything that we’ve done in the past 60 years.

Our Pantry Needs You!

Posted on October 2, 2015 by hopecenterhagerstown

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” Matthew 25:35

Since our beginning in 1955, one of our missions was to make sure that the hungry in Hagerstown had a welcomed place to eat. As our society has changed and economic troubles have hurt families, our mission to feed the less fortunate has changed from not just serving a hot plate of food but also making sure that families had food in their own cupboards to help them get through the month.

Our pantry is looking a little too similar to Old Mother Hubbard’s these days. To be honest, it’s becoming a little difficult to keep our food bags filled with a nice variety of food.

Please consider helping us keep our pantry full for all of our daily guests, our residents and all our neighbors who need food bags for their homes.

The next time you’re at the grocery store, why not pick up a few of these items and drop them off? Or your church, Sunday School class, workplace, school, civic club, Boy/Girl scout troop or neighborhood could host a food drive to collect some of these much needed items.

Please help us fight hunger and hopelessness in Hagerstown!

PANTRY ITEMS NEEDED:

Macaroni & cheese boxed dinners
Hamburger Helper or similar boxed dinners
Spaghettios, Ravioli, or similar heat & serve pasta
Creamy peanut butter (15-16 oz. jars please)
Cans of soup (all varieties and sizes – except no cream soup please)
Ramen Noodles
Tuna (5 oz. cans please)
Any canned meat (Spam, chicken, potted meat, etc.)
Rice A Roni (all varieties)
Pork ‘n Beans
Spaghetti (1 lb. pkg)
Spaghetti sauce (cans or jars 24-26 oz.)

Thank you for helping us feed our city! We appreciate your commitment to following God’s call to help take care of the poor and less fortunate in our community. For more information about our food program or to talk to someone about food drives or other ways you can help, please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

Missions Team Lends a Helping Hand at The Hope Center

Posted on August 15, 2014 by hopecenterhagerstown

A missions team from Rochester, New York spent a day working at The Hope Center as a part of their youth group’s summer missions trip with Wonder Voyage.

On July 23rd, the missions team spent the day serving at The Hope Center. Upon arrival in the morning, the group spent a little time learning about the various ministries and programs at The Hope Center before starting their day of service.

The team was broken into two groups: one group stayed in the Trinity Center, our multipurpose building on property, to help with different projects, and the other group went to our outdoor camp area outside of Hagerstown.

The missions team worked from 9am until 2pm doing various projects like painting backdrops, preparing Camp Wild manuals, and some physical labor preparing for the next two weeks of Camp Wild.

After the morning work session, the group came back together to eat lunch with our residents. They had the opportunity to talk & mingle with the guys in the program and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by our kitchen crew.

We are very thankful to Wonder Voyage for arranging this missions team to help at The Hope Center. They were a great service to the staff of Camp Wild and they helped get a lot of necessary tasks finished before the last weeks of camp.

Wonder Voyage is a ministry that helps to get churches and youth groups to various missions opportunities or pilgrimages worldwide. To learn more about missions trip and pilgrimages hosted by Wonder Voyage, go to http://www.wondervoyage.com.

Become a Volunteer!

Posted on July 2, 2014 by hopecenterhagerstown

Do you have that feeling that you just want to make a difference in your community?

Have you been trying to figure out how to get involved?

Why not join our team of volunteers?

Since 1955, The Hope Center (formerly known as Hagerstown Rescue Mission) has been reaching the least, the last, and the lost for Christ. We’ve been successful because God has always supplied our needs, including providing the best volunteers!

Volunteers come in many different shapes, sizes & ages! Our volunteers have many different interests but they all share the same goal: to help others.

Depending on the gifts, talents & personality that God has given you, we can help you find the best place to fit into our ministry. If you love working with kids, we’ve got the perfect spot for you. Wanna feed the hungry? We’ve got a kitchen ready for you. Would you rather tinker, clean or do something with your hands? We’ve got jobs just for you.

There are so many different ways to get involved that you may have a hard time deciding which you want to do. Well don’t worry about that either, you don’t have to do just one task! From photography, to food service, to painting, to donation sorting, to our Ladies’ Auxiliary, we’ve got plenty of interesting, challenging and spiritually fulfilling volunteer jobs for you.

And the best part of volunteering, you can help as little or as much as you want! There are volunteer opportunities that take place each day or once a year. It’s up to you to decide how involved you’d like to be. And you don’t have to do it alone. We welcome volunteer groups, families or just a handful.

Ready to take the next step? Excellent! Go to http://www.volunteerhagerstown.com and take a look around. Click on the ‘Opportunities’ in the top tool bar to read through the many different volunteer positions that are available. If you’re feeling frisky, click on the ‘Urgent Needs’ tab to see what volunteer positions we desperately need immediately. Even if you’re unable to help with that job, you might know someone who can. So go ahead and take a look at how you can get involved.

Once you’re ready to get started you can click on the ‘Why’ tab and fill out the email form at the bottom. Someone will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Or you can always call us at 301.739.1165 or email us directly at hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

We look forward to having you join our team of fantastic volunteers! Since we don’t receive any money from the government, we rely heavily on the support from our community of friends. From prayers, to donated goods, to financial support & volunteers, our friends in the community help to make this ministry possible and have helped to reach thousands upon thousands of lives for 60 years!

We have a great legacy of ministry in Hagerstown and we’re looking forward to a great future! Why not be a part of it?

Camp Wild 2013 – Part 2

Posted on August 30, 2013 by hopecenterhagerstown

We’re giving you a brief glimpse of all the fun kids in Hagerstown had this summer at Camp Wild. For more info on Camp Wild or other Wildside Youth programs, please visit www.wildsideyouth.com.

Wildside Youth is proudly sponsored by The Hope Center. If you’d like to volunteer at Wildside activities or any other programs or ministries at The Hope Center then please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net.

To learn more about the various ministries at The Hope Center, including Wildside Youth, please go to www.hagerstownrescue.org.

What a Great Summer at Camp Wild!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by hopecenterhagerstown

We can’t believe that Camp Wild has already come & gone for another year!

Even though Camp Wild has concluded, that doesn’t mean the fun has to end! Wildside Youth Ministries will be back in the fall with monthly themed parties and Sunday Night Wild every Sunday evening! Keep checking this blog to stay up-to-date with all the excitement that Wildside has to offer!

If you want to learn more about Wildside, go to www.wildsideyouth.com.

Enjoy some more pics from Camp Wild 2013!

The Hope Center of Hagerstown

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

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