"People don't understand the hard work that goes into this place," Stoddard County Gospel Mission Director Kim Lemons said. "You walk in the front door and see a beautiful store."
Kim was told of just how much work, physical and emotional, goes into the Gospel Mission by her mother, Betty Lemons, when she showed interest in the director position.
Betty knew just how much work went into the Gospel Mission better than anyone. She was the director and had served in that position for 17 years.
"My motto is I would rather wear out than rust out," Betty said on her decision to retire.
When her daughter wanted to step into her role following her retirement, Betty had a little advice to offer.
"Don't do it," she told her daughter. "This job is just crazy hard and something new is going on all the time."
According to Kim, she enjoys staying busy and helping others, so following in her mother's footsteps made sense.
While Betty was away on vacation, Kim applied for the job and was named director of the Stoddard County Gospel Mission in 2009.
Before being named director, Kim worked for the Stoddard County Health Department, where her passion for helping others and meeting the needs of people carried over.
The Stoddard County Gospel Mission is a non-profit organization striving to reach people in time of need by providing food, nutrition education, clothing and household items to low income families throughout the county.
After 25 years in operation, the Gospel Mission is able to provide 1200 families in Dexter with free food each month, 250 families in Puxico and 275 in Advance with the same.
Celebrating their 25th anniversary Friday, May 18, the assistance of the Gospel Mission has grown since its beginning.
According to Betty, when she served as director in the early 90s, the Gospel Mission served 300 families a month with food and clothing.
"It was a very small operation at that time," Betty said.
Once becoming director, Betty approached the board of directors about purchasing the building where the Gospel Mission is currently located.
"I convinced them if we could buy it I would make it work," she said.
The Gospel Mission ran out of the section that currently houses the thrift store and rented other parts of the building to pay for the purchase.
Betty said the back half of the current thrift store area was stacked to the ceiling with donations.
Her first order of business was go through the donations with one other person and give the store a makeover in the middle of summer with no air conditioner.
As renters moved out, Betty said the Gospel Mission began to take over the entire building. Several years later, the building next door was purchased and used for storage.
Since Kim has taken the helm of the Gospel Mission, updates have been the major progression for the organization.
"I like this to be an upscale thrift store," Kim said. "It's a very warm shopping experience and no one is made to feel down graded or bad about receiving food."
The Gospel Mission runs solely off donations from the community. Sales from the thrift store enables the organization to purchase the food that is donated to families in the county.
"We are very thankful to the community," Kim said. "We couldn't do what we do without donations from the community."
The Stoddard County Gospel Mission not only assists residents in the county with monthly food donations, but Christmas and Easter baskets are also distributed to families in need.
During the summer months, the Gospel Mission hosts a weekly food program for school age children while school is not in session.
"This gives a little something extra to eat when the children are not receiving free meals in the morning or at noon," Kim said.
In addition to the Dexter location, the Gospel Mission also operates a thrift store in Puxico with clothing and household items that are donated from the community.
"I always say this is the second busiest place after Walmart," Betty said.
To celebrate 25 years of assisting Stoddard County, the Gospel Mission held a celebration complete with giveaways, drawings and food.
Betty was in attendance to reminiscence with several customers who frequented the thrift store while she was the director.
"I got to share stories and got some hugs," she said,
Kim described the day as "perfect" with a crowd of over 200 people.
She also praised her staff for their hard work each day.
"I have wonderful employees who work really hard in the back and make my job easier," Kim said. "I couldn't do it without them."
When looking forward to goals for the Gospel Mission over the next 25 years, Kim said the organization is committed to continue helping others in any way possible.
"I stayed until I was worn out," Betty said. "I hope she (Kim) can last 25 more years."