“Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”
These are the words that The Gathering Place, a Christian nonprofit located in the heart of Georgetown, Kentucky, lives by. Founded in February of 2005, The Gathering Place is a community kitchen and homeless shelter that houses over 50 residents and helps countless more. Focused on community and giving back, The Gathering Place has expanded multiple times over the years to increase their outreach and impact in the community.
One of their ways of giving back include clothing distribution and emergency hygiene services. For many homeless people, proper clothing and hygienic care ranks low on the priority list; however, The Gathering Place believes in restoring dignity through ensuring any homeless person can access basic necessities such as toothbrushes, soap, etc.
Most of their clothing and hygiene stock comes from donations, and imperative to their cause is a place to store those donations. This is where the National Honor Society at GCHS comes into play. Jordan Thomson, a junior at Great Crossing, is serving as the Volunteer Coordinator for the club this year. His effort to organize opportunities for students to get service hours is the reason NHS started working with The Gathering Place.
“I contact local non-profits and look for any way to help. The Gathering Place responded to my outreach with a large-scale service opportunity to build a commodity shed for the residence,” said Thomson.
NHS partnered with The Gathering Place to turn a shed located in the back lot of the property to a clothing and hygiene distribution store. Over the course of two Sunday afternoons in October, NHS members turned the warehouse from a crowded, messy storage room to an organized, ready for use “store”.
When they first entered the warehouse, it was filled to the brim with old bed frames, mattresses, and boxes upon boxes of mismatched, unorganized clothing items. Serious work would need to take place before even being able to walk through the warehouse without stepping on something.
“It was a pretty difficult moving process, but we received help from some men at the shelter. From there we built shelves for this cleaned out shed to store donated commodities from the community,” reflected Thomson.
For six hours, NHS members worked to clear a space big enough for them to lay the foundation of a “shopping center”. Once shelves were constructed, it was time to tackle the task of organizing the clothing. The Gathering Place accepts clothing donations year round, and many people donate heaps of unsorted clothing that needed to be sorted and folded.
Kyler McMeekin, a junior member of NHS, volunteered on the first day of the cleanup, and was able to assist in the more physical parts of the cleanup. “I only was able to attend the first day of the project, but even just how far we came from the beginning, moving whole beds, to being able to sit on the floor and start to fold clothes really showed how we worked together to turn the space into something usable,” McMeekin reflected.
Still, The Gathering Place is still in dire need of some types of clothing. “We found that the shelter was lacking in donations such as any type of womens and childrens clothing, feminine hygiene products, and soaps,” said Thomson.
The warehouse will continue to grow and expand, and the NHS hopes to stay in connection with The Gathering Place to ensure future partnerships as well. While service hours were the reason students came, a lot of volunteers left with a different mindset than they started with.
“I loved volunteering at The Gathering Place because it was really rewarding. I forgot we were there just for service hours. Instead I really connected with the people we got to talk to and listen to their stories. It was very inspiring and I would love to go back!” stated McMeekin.
Thomson also felt good about serving his community. He said, “I hope it really helps the men, women, and children who stay at the shelter with their basic necessities. Having a place where you can get shoes after yours have become worn, or regain dignity through quality hygiene products shows such an impact.”
NHS faculty adviser Greshen Willis is proud of the work that her club members do for others. Willis said, “Through service, members gain insights about local challenges within our community. This fosters empathy and a deeper sense of connection to others. I am so proud to work with NHS which emphasizes giving back to our community and helping our society.”
