WOODVILLE – Rev. Michael Hadnot and wife Jeanine spoke to Woodville City Council Monday evening about the Keniesha R. Beatty Memorial Food Pantry that they oversee.
Hadnot, who pastors Pilgrim rest Missionary Baptist Church, and his wife Jeanine, with the help of volunteers, distribute fresh produce, meat and various other foods the second Thursday of each month at the Mayme R. Brown Community Center, located at 405 Cobb Mill Road, directly beside the church.
Hadnot explained, “last year we served approximately 7,800 people. We want to start a new program where we can start home delivery for our senior citizens. We are here to ask for grant funding, support, or what have you, so that we may continue this program.”
Jeanine Hadnot commented, “we have been doing the food pantry over at the Mayme R. Brown Community Center right beside Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church since 2021. We started with a mobile distribution where Southeast Texas Food Bank would bring food, and we would get our volunteers to pass it out. After doing that for about a year and a half, we moved into a full pantry, and now we manage it, getting all the supplies. They have a mobile choice, we give them a menu, and they choose. We served over 300 senior families over the last year, but on a monthly basis, we may only get a hundred of them. A lot of the reason is they are homebound and they are having to rely on somebody to come and get the food, act as a proxy to them, and some of these people don’t even have people they can trust. What we are trying to do is preempt the food distribution day with a food delivery day for those that are homebound. Our seniors are the most vulnerable of our community”.
Hadnot added, “our budget right now is approximately $7,600, and what we are asking for to expand is $10,000 to help support what we are doing. The program itself is open to all of Tyler County, but the senior program will start out with those in Woodville. We are a 501(C) 3 non-profit since 2010. I know seniors in our community would certainly appreciate any help that you are able to grant to this program. People need food, I don’t care how healthy they look, they need food. We want to try and make sure that nobody goes hungry in Tyler County”.
Jeanine added, “the Keniesha R. Beatty Memorial was designed for my daughter who died in a tragic car accident when she was 19 years old. She had the heart of a giver, she didn’t want to see anybody hurting she didn’t want Christmas presents, she wanted to be able to give to somebody who was in need. This is what we do to honor her.”
After the Hadnots’ presentation, council approved the mayoral appointment of a committee to discuss options to assist with their program.
Other Business
Mayor Amy Bythewood signed a proclamation naming February Black History Month in the city of Woodville, and council approved an authorization to advertise for bids for GLO contract number 24-065-035-E490, and considered for approval Resolution number 20250210 a resolution of the city council of the city of Woodville to support an application for funding from Tyler County for grant funding, and with selection, the development and completion of a Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) through the United States Forest Service (USFS) under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Wildlife Defense Fund (CWDF).
All minutes, financials for January 2025 and the Quarterly Investment Report were approved in short order, and the meeting was adjourned.
