Combatting hunger in our area has been a top priority of ours since the very beginning in 1955. We’ve been providing free meals for the hungry as long as we can remember and even hosting our annual Thanksgiving feast since the mid 1950’s making it one of the oldest community Thanksgiving feasts in the area. Through the years we’ve increased our food services program and have adapted to the ever growing and ever changing needs in our community.

We are still dedicated to fighting hunger in Hagerstown. The goal hasn’t diminished and the challenge is still very real. From serving multiple meals a day to providing food bags assistance to families in need, our food program is a major part of the ministries at The Hope Center.

We have a great staff who run our kitchen and food pantry, making sure that anyone who is hungry or lonely has a safe and welcoming place to enjoy a delicious meal. And our staff always makes sure that we have food bags for families and individuals to supplement their shelves so that no one in our area is ever food insecure.

But we can’t feed all these people without a little help from our friends! We always welcome churches, groups, and individuals who want to pitch in and help serve meals. And we’re always grateful to those who donate food and other items for our residents and guests. Donating food can make a huge difference and produce positive results in our overall budget so that we can use our resources to help more people in more ways and continue to do it all without using any tax money.

Recently managers and employees from some local Martin’s stores came to serve a meal at The Hope Center.

Led by Krista Bloom and represented managers & employees from four local Martins stores, Dual Highway, Maugans Ave, Wesel Blvd, and Smithsburg.

The Martin’s team was at The Hope Center for about 3 hours as they worked food prep, meal set up, food service, and helped to clean up following the meals for our residents and then our daily Soup Line.

In addition to serving food for our residents and guests, the Martin’s team brought food from a food drive along with personal care items collected. They donated over 400 non perishable food items, collected between the four stores, weighing in at over 365 pounds of food!

The team from Martin’s was serving as a part of the September Family Meals Month, part of an initiative from the corporation to help focus on eradicating hunger. This event at The Hope Center was one of five different events that pertained to ending hunger as a part of the September Family Meals Month that the 17 stores in the district participated in.

Throughout the month of September, the district stores tallied up over 148 hours of volunteer service. The group that came to volunteer at The Hope Center had over 36 hours of volunteer service for the September initiative!

Thank you so much to all the wonderful people at Martin’s food stores who volunteered and donated to The Hope Center and all the other food charities in the area! Eradicating hunger is a huge task but with faithful friends, like the volunteers from Martin’s, we can all work together to make sure no one in our area is EVER hungry or food insecure.

When shopping for groceries, please consider visiting one of the Martin’s Food Stores in our area. To find a store go to http://www.martinsfoods.com.

Hunger doesn’t discriminate. It is a real evil that affects all types of people in every age group. If you would like to join the fight against hunger in our area then contact us immediately to learn how you can help just like the kind employees from Martin’s.

To get involved call 301.739.1165 or email volunteer@hagerstownhopecenter.com.

If you or someone you know is hungry or in need of food assistance please call 301.739.1165 or email info@hagerstownhopecenter.com.

To learn more about all the various programs and services offered at The Hope Center please visit http://www.hagerstownhopecenter.com.