By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Since opening their doors in 1982, and incorporating as a non-profit organization nearly a decade later, Bethany House has helped countless families with access to fresh produce, holiday meals, and warm winter clothing. But a significant part of the charity’s mission – providing food to the hungry – is in jeopardy if they can’t secure the funding they need to replace their faulty walk-in cooler.
The cooler, an integral piece of equipment that allows Bethany House to accept and store donations of fresh meat and produce, went down earlier this summer. The cost to replace it, a whopping $13,000, is well outside the charity’s budget.
So, they did what so many individuals and organizations in need do today – they decided to crowdsource the funding. And while donations have been generous, they are still well short of their $13K goal.
Laura Eklund, who serves on the board of directors for the charity, explained that after the cooler went down, they had to quit accepting donations from various sources, because they had no way to store them.
“Often, weekly, we will get donations from Dollar General Store for milk and dairy items, and also from God’s Food Pantry, in Morehead.”
God’s Food Pantry, Eklund added, also distributes a lot of fresh produce that is otherwise difficult for some poor families to access.
But, with the cooler down, Eklund explained, “we had no ability to keep these items cold.”
The current cooler cannot be repaired, she said, and needs to be replaced entirely. Because of that, she said, they’d like to purchase an even larger cooler so they can store more food donations.
Currently a lot of people who rely on the pantry are going without, and trying to stretch their other resources, Eklund noted.
“There’s a growing need in our community. We’re serving between 450 to 500 families monthly, and at the end of the month – like today – we’re busy. These families are coming back a second time before the month rolls over.”
They’ve raised $2,500 of the costs needed so far, with an anonymous donation making up the difference of the $1,500 currently collected through their online fundraiser at https://givebutter.com/ghDGms. But that’s still well short of the $13,000 needed for the new cooler.
Eklund noted that you can access the link directly, or by searching for Bethany House on Facebook. She also noted that they chose to use Give Butter for their fundraiser because “other non-profits, such as Meals on Wheels, trust them and use them, and they have an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau.”
But if you still aren’t comfortable with online donations, and wish to contribute, you can donate directly to Bethany House by contacting Eklund or other volunteers or board members, or by visiting Commercial Bank of Grayson and letting them know that you wish to donate to Bethany House. They will be able to process those donations and apply them directly to the Bethany House account.
“I’ve had many people just give me cash donations,” Eklund said. “I dropped two off to (Director) Wilma (Wells) this morning. I had two people give me $100 at church, and another lady gave me a check, and I took them straight to her.”
While they’re still distributing clothing, and non-perishable foods, Eklund said getting the refrigerator back up and running is their main priority at the moment.
“The refrigerator will improve the shelf life of the food, and increase what we can give directly,” she said. “It will improve the life of our neighbors.”
She said it’s been “heartbreaking,” to “turn away” the fresh food donations they’ve had to refuse because of the failure, especially when they know the need is so great.
“A few months ago, we had a lady cry – weep – over receiving a jug of milk,” Eklund said. “We don’t realize the needs in our community. We can go get milk whenever we want to, but not everyone can.”
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
