Edmond Life and Leisure - November 28, 2024

From the Publisher

Please give to HOPE Center Samaritan Drive

Some good folks in our community do not have a voice or may be embarrassed to use it but I am not. Please accept my plea for you, your family and your business to contribute to this year’s HOPE Center of Edmond Samaritan Fund Drive.

Some are surprised to understand the needs here in Edmond. Yes, this is a wealthy suburban community for some but not all. It just takes one tragedy or misstep to need help to get back on your feet. We are all there or have been there folks. There are people in town that need that lift to get back on their feet and that is what Hope Center does for people. They are also excellent stewards with the funds you entrust with them.

Many of the families they see at HOPE Center this year never imagined that they would need to seek assistance for food or rent. People found that if they had not lost their jobs, the hours had been cut by more than half.

The Samaritan Fund Drive started in 1989 as the annual fundraising campaign for HOPE Center of Edmond. They had a partnership with Edmond Sun owners Ed and Marcia Livermore to help give recognition and encouragement to those that donate. Edmond Life & Leisure is honored to pick up that tradition and we will start next week by publishing the names of those that donate. It encourages your friends and neighbors to donate as well. It is also a way to challenge other businesses to contribute by seeing your business name as a donor. It is a way to highlight HOPE Center’s mission and programs. We will share stories told as part of the Samaritan Fund Drive provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about the people who have been touched by the HOPE Center and about the extraordinary way our community cares for its citizens.

The Samaritan Drive accounts for nearly 40% of the HOPE Center’s budget and is a vital component of the overall funding of services at the center. This money is used for client programs for utility or rent payments and to purchase perishable food items like milk, bread, eggs, fruit and meat.

Here is some of what was provided in 2023: 6,000 people received coats, clothing, shoes, household/kitchen items $765,305 was paid in rent and utilities for 3,915 families 16,137 women, infants and children received nutrition and breast-feeding education 1600 volunteers and 3200 hours of service.

The list goes on of what they have done to help people in our community. HOPE Center has it all. It is 100% local, great stewards with the money and services donated, they put people back on their feet, have an excellent director, staff and board of directors. What more could a donor possibly ask for in an organization?

Their mission is to transform the lives of our neighbors from hopelessness and despair to encouragement and hope by providing food, clothing, and financial assistance to our clients. Please donate today, either online at www.hopecenterofedmond.com or by mail to PO Box 2915, Edmond, OK 73083.

Here is some history of HOPE Center if you are new to the area and need to know more provided by executive director, Chris Sperry. In addition to great leadership, she is one of the finest individuals you will ever meet.

Since 1984, HOPE Center has been providing assistance to members of the Edmond community. Our name is our mission - it stands for Help Our People in Emergencies. Our mission is to meet the basic needs of the people in our community who are having personal emergencies or crises. HOPE Center was organized to meet a community need for a central agency to provide social services. The Center was developed by the Edmond Ministerial Alliance, an inter-denominational council of churches, with volunteers and a grant from the Edmond Women’s Club.

It is difficult enough to ask for help but imagine how hard it would be to have to go to every church in town to get enough assistance to pay the utility bill. The combined support of many of the churches, businesses and individuals in the community means that we have the resources to provide food, clothing and utility assistance from a single community agency. More than five hundred families receive services from HOPE each month.

The uncertainty of life is probably the major factor that sustains the need for an agency like HOPE. Most of our clients are regular people who live and survive as long as nothing extraordinary happens to them. For most of our clients, though, it takes only one seemingly small event to disrupt their lives. If their vehicle breaks down, they cannot afford the repairs and they lose their job. If a child gets sick, they must take unpaid days from work and then must decide how to pay the extra expenses of doctor’s bills and prescription costs on a smaller than usual paycheck. The harsh reality of a hungry child, an eviction notice, or utility cut off notice can cause panic or hopelessness for anyone.

We hope that our services help our clients avoid such situations. Most of HOPE Center’s clients are people who work hard to provide for themselves and their families but find themselves in desperate situations. We strive to treat every client who comes to our agency with respect and kindness and help them resolve their emergencies.

The HOPE Center Health Clinic opened in 1994 and offers nutritional counseling and education for almost 15,000 participants through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutritional Education program.

HOPE Center is privately funded. Our only fundraising activity each year is the Samaritan Fund Drive. Many of the churches in Edmond contribute regularly. We also apply for grants whenever we can. Our only other regular source of funding is HOPEfully Yours, our resale shop. The resale shop was opened in 2004 as a project to fully utilize each donation we receive. Clothing and household items that are not needed for clients-like wedding dresses or formal gowns, dry-clean only clothing or pictures and draperies-are sold and the proceeds are used to purchase fresh food items, help fund our pre-natal clinic and support other client programs.

Food drives and volunteer activities are anotherway that the community supports HOPE Center. We have more than eighty volunteers each week. They are members of churches, Scout groups, University clubs, social clubs and service clubs, high school students, college students, and retirees.

In 2013, HOPE started a Teen Leadership Board. The purpose of the Teen Board is to allow high school students an opportunity to gain experience about a community-based not-for-profit social service agency. They participate in HOPE’s food pantry and clothing closet, organize service activities, and will have the opportunity to hear from a variety of leaders in our community. Students can also earn community service credit hours for their participation.

The longevity and success of the HOPE Center are a direct result of conservative management, judicious planning and a serious commitment to accountability. Each contribution and donation are used carefully to provide the greatest benefit for clients. Keeping administrative overhead as low as possible is another way the agency maximizes its resources. Our Board of Directors’ dedication to fiscal responsibility has enabled HOPE Center to continue to provide quality services to clients for so many years.

It is also amazing that whenever we have a critical or special need, we can call different churches or groups, and the word will spread, and the need will be met. THAT kind of community wide support is what makes HOPE center work and the reason that it has been here for 40 years.

I cannot think of a better way to shake off the split in our society than for us to all unite and donate this year to the HOPE Center Samaritan drive. Join Lisa and I in doing so today! Please, donate today, either online at www.hopecenterofedmond.com or by mail to PO Box 2915, Edmond, OK 73083.

(Ray Hibbard, publisher of Edmond Life & Leisure, may be reached at ray@edmondpaper.com)