Saturday fundraiser to benefit Northside Community Center fundraiser

Chili To Go will be held from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday to benefit the Northside Community Center, located at 1450 Garfield.

Tickets are $8 each and will include chili, crackers, peanut butter or pimento sandwiches and dessert. A drink will be $1.

The drive-thru luncheon at the community center is being co-sponsored by the Brown Chapel AME Church’s Sunday School and the Northside Community Center.

The church and community volunteers want the community center to be a safe place for everyone, young and old, said Annie Hinton of Poplar Bluff.

Located in the former Northside Nutrition building, the community center was established in 2018 with Brown Chapel AME Church serving as the sponsor for the 501(c)3 nonprofit group.

Plans were well underway when COVID-19 reduced the activities, but board members didn’t allow it to diminish their outlook.

Keeping strong in their faith, board members are Hinton, executive director; Rev. Annette Joseph, president; Priscilla McClellon, vice president; Carolyn Cooper, secretary; Delores Hood, treasurer; Donald Brandon, maintenance supervisor; Corretta Bishop, technology and programs director; Pastor Tim Freeman, building maintenance; William Gresham, Rev. William Harrold and Catherine Willoughby. The advisory board consists of Kathy Hadley, Kathern Harris, and Annie Harrold.

Plans also include a lending library, as well as at least five free books for every home, Hinton said.

“Corretta Bishop has come aboard with her skills specializing in technology” as a volunteer for technology and programs, Hinton said. “She is also helping to set up programs and promoting the Northside Community Center around the community.”

Hinton said, “We, the volunteers at the Northside Community Center, need your help to provide resources and services to the City of Poplar Bluff.”

Future plans include offering cooking classes, renting the facility to individuals and groups to have events such as suppers, pancake breakfasts, smaller banquets and birthday parties. The center will serve as an affordable alternative to commercial venues that will reinvest in the community, Hinton said.

The center’s mission statement is to establish and provide an environmentally productive facility for educational, recreational and human services in order to increase opportunity for growth in the community.

Emphasizing seniors are “still very important and have value to give to the community,” Hinton said, organizers hope to provide fitness classes and computer programs for seniors. The goal is to get seniors involved serving as mentors, working one-on-one with the youth.

Volunteers, who pass a background check, are needed to work with the youth, Hinton said.

Donations are tax deductible. While the group has received private donations, a donation from the Episcopal Diocesan Center, Ozark Federal Credit Union and an organ from St. Louis, Hinton said, “a non-profit public facility needs donations from the community.”

Hinton asked, everyone “believe in God and he’s going to send help.”