North Texas Food Pantry Scrambling To Find New Home As Church Closes
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The North Texas Community Table, a North Richland Hills nonprofit, is scrambling to find a new home by the end of the month as the church they're based inside, is closing in part due to COVID-19.
"At this point, the church is closing, and we are now looking for a new home," said Susan Younker, the Executive Director of the North Texas Community Table.
They've been at the Davis Memorial United Methodist Church, since their inception in 2013.
The church however, has been struggling for much longer.
"Well, it's obviously a tough decision and a hard situation," said Kaiya Kershaw, Pastor of Davis Memorial United Methodist. "It's been a steady decline of about 20-30 years. But we couldn't cut any more expenses, you know, and then COVID pretty much just threw everything into disarray."
Kershaw says it was a situation where COVID-19 just quickened the inevitable, and those PPP loans they received just couldn't pull them back. Leaving the nonprofit they host inside, the Community Table, a little less than a month away from having nowhere to feed the 500 families they see every week.
"It's really stressful. The holidays are upon us…we want to make sure that they get enough food for that. And we are trying to find a new home, which, you know, just put that all together and it makes for a surprise!" Younker said.
She says they are looking for something still nearby or in the NRH area, that will provide enough space to store food and for families to drive-thru.
"We just want to make sure that people know where we are, and that they can come and get food every week," Younker said.
As for the church, their last day open will be on January 3.
The Community Table says if they can't find a new space, they plan to place their items in storage and direct their 500 clients to other food pantries in the area.
Anyone with space available, can contact Susan Younker through the Davis Memorial United Methodist Church at (817) 897-6043.
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