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From left to right: Jerod Lyons, Woody Ford General Manager; Patti Sparlin, Vice President of HFMC; Kimberly Simmons, HFMC board member; Bill Simmons, HFMC board member; Jesse Pearce, J. Price Office Manager; Gwen Wilson, HFMC Director andAndrea Porterfield, JP Consultants Office Manager. Crystal Burnezky-Robertson • The Madill Record
From left to right: Jerod Lyons, Woody Ford General Manager; Patti Sparlin, Vice President of HFMC; Kimberly Simmons, HFMC board member; Bill Simmons, HFMC board member; Jesse Pearce, J. Price Office Manager; Gwen Wilson, HFMC Director andAndrea Porterfield, JP Consultants Office Manager. Crystal Burnezky-Robertson • The Madill Record
Many people have heard the saying ,“It takes a village'. Recently,thenon-profit Hope for Marshall County (HFMC) has truly received help from their village.
Through multiple donations from people in the community and a recent grant from the OSU Extension office, HFMC was able to expand their pantry, services and operations in Marshall County. This is the second time the organization has received this OSU grant, which will provide items such as a commercialgradefoodsealer, new shelving racks, extralarge insulated shopping bags and collapsible crates to be used for food delivery and set up at giveaways. HFMC Director Gwen Wilson said the items will be used at the pantry.
“The commercial grade food sealer will be used for donatedbulkitemstobeseparated out and distributed to the community,” Wilson said.
Theyalsoreceivedamuchneeded deep freeze as part of the grant. Wilson said the grant was used for all the needed items.
“We received all the items that we requested through the grant,” Wilson said.
There was a separate donation from Milton Evans, at the now shut down Texoma Land Pantry. Evans donated a pallet jack, an 18-ft. long trailer, a refrigerated box truck, a commercial grade cooler and freezer.
“With the use of the recently donated refrigerated truck we were able to hand out 279 food boxes,” Wilson noted.
Wilson said the donated items will be a “game changer” for HFMC.
“It will make a big difference for the shut-ins, the elderly and for families that cannot come to the community giveaways,” Wilson said. “A lot of the elderly do not have the internet and are not able to see the posts about the events. Now we can go to them.”
Another game changer for the non-profit was an additional donationofaFordF250 truckmadetothemfromlocal dealershipWoodyFordandJ. Price Energy Services.
“We are absolutely speechless,” Wilson said about the donation. “It is a life saver. We will be able to pull heavier loads of donations with the truck.”
All the donated and granted items will be used to help HFMCprovidefoodhandouts to more people at more locations while allowing them to be able to keep the donation items fresh with the use of the refrigerated truck.
“This changes what we are able to do for Marshall County,” Wilson noted. “We have worked for 13 years to expand the pantry and now we are able to.”