Mike Fortney, president of the board for Center of Hope, provided a program for the Livingston Lions Club on April 1.
He said Center of Hope has been around for four decades, having started as a small pantry with five partner churches with a vision. It now has 15 partner churches, seven different ministries and 80 very active volunteers.
“We average 35-40 volunteers a week. That’s an incredible amount of people. When the Southeast Texas Food Bank comes, they always are shocked,” Fortney said.
“We’re grateful to be at the Center of Hope. We don’t do it for recognition. We received the nonprofit organization of the year last year, but we didn’t nominate ourselves.
Fortney said 2025 was a pretty big year, with approximately 8,800 different families going through the food pantry due to the shutdown, federal cuts and the loss of food stamps.
He referred to what he calls “mini miracles,” in which the organization receives something and doesn’t necessarily have a need for it at the time. “They just happen and all of a sudden, bam!, a need pops up.”
One of the center’s ministries is its cancer support group in which cancer patients are assisted with gas and parking, in addition to transportation to their treatments. Last year, 598 trips were made.
Another ministry, the emergency health ministry, had fulfilled 310 assists last year and is now starting to receive medical equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches, among other things.
Campaign 300 is the financial assistance ministry and Fortney said 95% of the cases are utility bills. He said 260 families were assisted last year.
Christmas of Hope, formerly known as the Empty Stocking Program, allowed 877 kids to be shopped for by their parents last year, providing 5,000 gifts.
Another of the center’s ministries is disaster response, whereby the center coordinates volunteer teams and takes all the donations that come in from outside.
“Disaster response, thank you Lord, was a slow year for us. We didn’t have a disaster last year, but we did help the people in the Hill Country during the flooding in Kerrville. We had a semi-truck that was donated by two people and we filled it about two-thirds full and delivered supplies to the Hill Country,” Fortney said.
The center also has a bus ministry which has clocked approximately 6,000 miles driven on the road.
“Of all the blessings, God’s provision, the thing that makes that thing (the center) run is the people that are there. They could be doing anything, but they elect to spend their days there,” Fortney said, expressing his appreciation for the many volunteers.
