Tag Archives: soup line

Good Friday & Easter Schedule

Posted on by
Reply

In observance of Good Friday and the celebration of Resurrection Sunday we will be generally closed on Friday, April 15th.

Our Administrative Office, Thrift Stores (Hagerstown & Chambersburg), Donation Center, Wildside Youth, and Recycling Center will be closed on Friday.

Our Thrift Stores will be open on Saturday, April 16th, for normal operating hours.

Our Soup Line, overnight homeless shelter, and evening chapel/meal will be open and operating on Good Friday and Easter Sunday as well. These essential community services never close including all holidays.

For more info about our Good Friday/Easter schedule please call 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com.

If you are looking for a local church to attend on Easter Sunday and would like suggestions please contact us at the phone number or email listed above and we will give you a list of churches to check out for the resurrection celebration.

Feelin’ Fruity

Posted on by
Reply

July has arrived even though it doesn’t feel like it. But with the arrival of the new month comes our new Pantry Item of the Month!!

For July we’re asking for donations of canned fruit and/or cups of fruit. We’ll gladly accept any brand or variety of fruit. Donate your favorite or whatever may be on sale. Either way we’re gonna put it to good use.

This month’s pantry item will be primarily used in our food bag program and at our next Community Grocery Giveaway taking place on August 13th. We try to make sure that each food bag has fruit included but we are often running low on these items.

To donate please drop off at our Administrative Office during business hours M-F. Our Admin Office is located opposite our Thrift Store on our central lot located at 215 W. Church St in Hagerstown. If you are unable to drop off during business hours please call us at 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com to arrange a time that works for you.

If you’d prefer to shop online at smile.amazon.com or another online retailer then please use 125 N. Prospect St, Hagerstown, MD 21740 as our delivery address. (To learn more about shopping at AmazonSmile please click here: General Information | hagerstownhopecenter and scroll to the bottom of the page)

Thank you for partnering with us to help feed neighbors in need in our community! To learn more about the food programs at The Hope Center please click here: Food Programs | hagerstownhopecenter

And the Pantry Item of the Month is…

Posted on by
Reply

June has arrived which means it’s time for our newest Pantry Item of the Month!

For the month of June we’re asking for jars of pasta sauce. We’ll gladly accept any brand, variety, or size of pasta sauce.

Our kitchen uses a good amount of pasta sauce each month for the community meals we serve. And pasta sauce is also a staple item, along with boxes of spaghetti, for our food bag program. We make sure each food bag has pasta sauce when available.

We’ve also learned that pasta sauce is a hot item at our Community Grocery Giveaways that we host every season.

We’d appreciate any donation of pasta sauce! To donate please drop off at our Administrative Office (215 W. Church St) during business hours Mon – Fri. If you’re unable to drop off during the weekday then please call us at 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com to arrange a time that works.

If you’d prefer shopping online at your favorite vendor please use 125 N. Prospect St, Hagerstown, MD 21740 for our delivery address.

Thank you for caring and sharing with the community! If you’d like to learn more about our food services please visit https://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com/food-programs

Construction Continues at The Hope Center!

Posted on by
Reply

Things are moving right along with the expansion of our food services area. Crews have been working hard and taking advantage of the wonderful weather we’ve been blessed with.

On Friday the construction team poured the concrete for half of our expanded kitchen floor and for the lower level pantry expansion. Today the crew was back framing up the wood floorboards for the pantry ceiling/kitchen floor of the expansion project.

We are so thrilled with how quickly this much needed project is moving along! When you come through downtown Hagerstown on Franklin Street take a quick look at the project that’s easily visible looking up Prospect St. Or when you stop by for a shopping trip at our Thrift Store or drop off your gently used items take a moment to sneak a peek at the progress!

Follow us on Facebook to get the most up-to-date pics of the project and stay informed about the progress.

If you’re unaware of our expansion and renovation project then head to hagerstownhopecenter.com to learn more. At the bottom of our home page you’ll see a box with info and pics about this construction project.

The Support of our Community is Incredible!

Posted on by
Reply

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!

Washington County Gives is Finally Here!

Posted on by
Reply

After being postponed in May due to COVID-19, we’re excited to announce that Washington County Gives is officially happening!

On Tuesday, September 22nd the internet will come alive with a 24-hour online giving event! Washington County Gives is a chance for local non-profits to raise valuable funding for the year to come.

And this is a big year for us. Not only is it our 65th anniversary but we’re also beginning a huge expansion and renovation of our food services area at The Hope Center!

Our kitchen, dining room, and pantry are all in desperate need of an update and expansion as the need to feed people in our area has grown significantly over time.

Our expanded food services area will feature a new, updated kitchen so our staff and volunteers can better prepare and serve food for a larger crowd. Our dining room will increase in size and layout to allow more people to dine and do so in a much more efficient manor. And our pantry will double in size to allow us more space to store food that is used for daily meals and our food bag program for people in need.

This expansion and renovation is a huge undertaking. And we need your help. Not only do we ask for you to give as you can to this project, we are also asking that you help us spread the word to your social media followers, friends, family, coworkers, church, civic clubs, neighbors and anyone else who will listen! The more people involved the faster we can get this project completed and paid for.

And this is where Washington County Gives is a huge benefit. We are asking you to donate during this special online giving event but also encouraging others to join you in giving. We’ll be posting on Facebook about Washington County Gives and we’re asking you to share our posts with your Facebook friends and inspire them to give as well.

Giving during WCG is simple and we’re helping to make it as easy as possible. To learn more about giving during the 24-hour event please visit https://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com/wcg

This designated page on our website will give you the quick link you need to find our giving page for donation. We’ll include links on our Facebook and other media posts to help make it easy for you and your friends to navigate and donate with ease.

Please mark your calendar for WCG on September 22nd and make a plan to help us promote our food services expansion project to the community. Together we are fighting to end hunger in Hagerstown and surrounding communities.

We’re here to provide help for today… hope for tomorrow!

Spring is Here!

Posted on by
Reply

Hello Spring

Happy Spring! While it hasn’t been the harshest winter at all the arrival of spring is still a happy moment… especially with everything that’s going on around us. The thought of warmer sunshine, green grass, birds chirping and the return of color to the earth is something to celebrate!

And now that spring is here and we’re more cooped up than ever I’m sure most of you are taking this opportunity to do a little spring cleaning. While we’re currently not able to accept your donations of gently used items we will gladly take your spring cleaning surplus as soon as we can!

Once we get the all clear to reopen our sorting department we’ll let you know. Our trucks will be back out on the donation trail helping you to clear out your unwanted items. We rely heavily on proceeds from the sales generated by our Thrift Stores in Hagerstown & Chambersburg to help fund all of the programs and services at The Hope Center so your donation of items will be gladly accepted once we are back in business.

And did you know that your items could be part of our voucher program too? When people in need ask for various items like clothing or housewares we give them a voucher to use in our Hagerstown Thrift Store. That voucher allows them to pick the items they need without any cost to them. So when you donate your items they very well could end up in the hands of the most needy in our community.

And if your donated items are sold in one of our stores you can know that the money stays here in our community to help feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, and provide after-school activities for at-risk kids in surrounding neighborhoods.

So happy spring – and spring cleaning! We pray for safety and good health for each of you during this COVID-19 crisis. Remember, if you are in need of food or a hot meal please stop by The Hope Center. Our essential services are still open and operating on normal schedule during this crisis. For more info please call 301.739.1165.

If you’d like to volunteer or donate food, medicine or other necessities please call 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com.

Happy Spring!

We’re Still Here to Help

Posted on by
Reply

In all the chaos and confusion of the current global crisis – we’re still here to help!

Staff 1We’ve been cancelling any activities, programs, services, and ministries that are not essential but we are still open and helping to make sure that during this pandemic anyone who is hungry gets food and any men who need overnight shelter have a place to rest.

Safety is a top priority and we’re making sure that everyone, whether staff, guest, or volunteer is safe throughout this crazy time.

And though we’re here to help – we need help too. With the closure of our Thrift Stores we will desperately need financial donations to help keep us open and operating during this time. Proceeds from our Thrift Stores are a major part of our operating budget since we don’t receive any government funding of tax money. Any donation will help us continue to help those in need in our community during this Covid-19 event.

And if you are able to volunteer, we need your help! We will do everything we can to make sure you are safe as you help us help others. If you are elderly or have a medical condition that puts you at risk of Covid-19 we ask that you refrain from volunteering and just help us in other ways. Again, safety is a top priority.

We need help so in any way that you can, please do! From food donations, to personal care items, to forehead scanning thermometers, or just financial donations, any little bit will help.

Fred Rogers, star of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, was once quoted saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Please help us as we help others in this crisis. God is not absent during this and He will get us through it.

To learn more about donating or volunteering please call 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com. To donate online go to http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com and click on ‘Financial Giving’ in the drop down menu under the ‘Donate’ tab.

Thank you for caring & sharing!

Pasta for the Win!

Posted on by
Reply

Each month we are going to highlight an item that we need or use consistently at The Hope Center. Most items we highlight are used for food bags that we distribute to families and individuals who are in need of food assistance. Food items donated may also be used in our kitchen for one of the many daily meals served free-of-charge to our residents, overnight homeless guests, and community guests seeking a hot meal.

Whether it’s the coldest day in winter or the warmest day in summer, there’s something just perfect about a nice bowl of pasta and sauce.

Maybe it’s the comfort of the taste. Maybe it’s the bold simplicity of the meal.  Maybe it’s the ease of the process. Perhaps it’s just the happiness shared between your taste buds and your tummy. Or maybe it’s all of the above.

No matter what the reason — there’s just something wonderful about a bowl of pasta and sauce.

And that’s why spaghetti is one item on our list that is a “must have” for every food bag. It’s easy to make, is a hearty meal, and, most importantly, tastes perfect. So each food bag we distribute receives a 24 oz jar of pasta sauce and a box of spaghetti. Even if the family or individual is a novice in the kitchen, pasta is a meal that basically anyone can make.

Pasta Sauce-001

So for the month of February we are asking for donations of 24 oz jars of pasta or marinara sauce. We ask for the 24 oz size so as not to fill up too much space in a food bag so we can include other food items as well.

If you, your church, civic club, Scout troop, or business would like to donate pasta sauce please drop any jars off to our Administrative Office Mon – Fri 8:15 – 11:30am and 12:15-5pm (our office is closed daily from 11:30am – 12:15pm). If those hours do not work please contact us at 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com to arrange a more suitable time.

Also, if you’re planning a food drive then be sure to add pasta sauce to the list of much needed items! If you need any other ideas of food items that are frequently used then please contact us so we can give you an idea list.

If you would like to learn more about our food program, or you are in need of food assistance, please go to http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com/food-programs

A Bowl of Chili and a Smile

Posted on by
Reply

On Sunday the youth group from St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church from Greencastle hosted a lunch for our residents and Soup Line guests! This isn’t the first time the youth group has served at The Hope Center and we were so happy to have them back again this year!

The group was led by youth leader, Vicky Patterson and included eight other volunteers of students and adults. The youth group prepared and served our residents and guests a perfectly fall lunch of chili, cornbread, salad, carrots, cookies and lemonade.

Volunteers make a huge difference at The Hope Center so we appreciate each and every one who gives of their time to serve our residents and guests in some capacity. But there’s just something so refreshing in seeing young people giving back to the community and learning the importance of helping others. Daily we hear and see such tragic news of how loveless and selfish our world seems to be but not often enough are we reminded of the good in the world and how the love of God continues to be spread through the actions of caring people in our community.

We are so thankful for Vicky and the youth group from St. Mark the Evangelist for being a part of our story of hope at The Hope Center. We genuinely appreciate the day of service given and look forward to hosting the youth group again next year!

To learn more about St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Greencastle, PA please visit http://www.stmarkstlukeparish.org.

If you’d like your youth group, Sunday School class, civic club, business, or family to serve just like the youth group from St. Mark the Evangelist then please give us a call at 301.739.1165 or email us at volunteer@hagerstownhopecenter.com to learn more about serving at The Hope Center.