The Wooster Hope Center received a $75,000 matching grant from an anonymous local donor. For every dollar donated to the Wooster Hope Center during October, November, and December, the benefactor will match it.
Director Richard Frazier talks about the grant and so much more in a recent podcast. You can listen to it in its entirety here:
Frazier said the matching grant couldn’t come at a better time. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hope Center has helped around 15,000 families by distributing nearly 1.2 million pounds of food in the past six months.
In 2019, the organization served a total of 18,000 families with around 1.8 million pounds of food.
The Wooster Hope Center is open 12-3 p.m. Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, and 10 a.m.-noon Friday.
Frazier said if the matching grant is fully funded, it would be enough to cover operating expenses for all of 2021.
Over the last three months of the year, the need for food among the families of Wayne County is traditionally higher, Frazier said. It has a lot to do with the holidays and the colder weather.
“People may have gardens in the summer or have seasonal jobs, but with the shorter days kids are home more at night and people, in general, eat more in the winter,” Frazier said.
The Wooster Hope Center not only offers food during the week, but the plan is to begin their Backpack of Food Program starting in October. The Wooster Hope Center worked with six different school districts in 13 different schools and distributed about 1,400 backpacks per month.
“We do what we do for the love of Wayne County and its people,” Frazier said. “We appreciate everyone who is willing to donate to help us out. People can donate via PayPal or by check.”
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Make check made payable to Wooster Hope Center, and send it to: Wooster Hope Center, PO Box 1204, Wooster OH 44691