Student-athletes, including men’s and women’s basketball players, have stepped up in a big way to assist the Hope House. Players have logged more than 5,000 hours of community service this past year.


and moved three years ago to Oakland Presbyterian Church’s gymnasium.


In addition to Winthrop, more than a dozen churches chip in to help make sure no one in York County goes hungry.


STEPPING UP FOR NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEED


One of Winthrop’s closest neighbors along Oakland Avenue has created a partnership that benefits both organizations.


The university and Hope House, which is a local food pantry, have found several ways to strengthen their neighborly ties.


“This past year, we’ve put the athletic teams in the spotlight for their service,” said Executive Director Gordon Bell, adding that the men’s basketball team has stepped up to assist, along with the lacrosse, soccer and women’s basketball teams.


The students sort the food that comes in, pre- bag it for the clients, break down boxes, unload trucks, takes food to the clients’ cars, and take out the trash, among other tasks.


“They do everything,” Bell said of the student groups. “They aren’t above doing anything.”


Making service a priority Athletic Director Chuck Rey said the student-ath- letes made community service a priority this past year, putting in more than 5,000 hours.


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“This has been a really good partnership for us,” Rey said. “This has made our students realize what is important and has made them even better people.”


The Hope House continues to grow after be- coming affiliated with Second Harvest a few years ago. Every Monday, the agency receives between four and a dozen pallets of food and household items from Second Harvest. There could be milk, eggs, toilet paper, snacks, grocer- ies, car seats, dried goods, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner, ace bandages, Tylenol, etc.


“We never know what we will get from them,” Bell said.


As executive director for the past eight years, Bell has worked with Winthrop fraternities, sororities, staff members, student organizations and different classes. Recently, Winthrop staff members dropped off bins of unused food and other items left by students after spring semester ended.


Hope House started in 1975 in a 1,700-square- foot house located near Glencairn Garden


Bell estimates that the agency serves 250 to 300 fam- ilies a week. Last year nearly 38,000 individuals were helped with food, utilities and medications.


The agency can give help to anyone who lives in South Carolina, and it provides groceries for everyone in a household. This equates to $185-$225 per week for a family of four, Bell said. A family box may provide produce, dairy, meat, canned and dry goods, fruit, vegetables and produce, particularly in the summer.


When COVID started, the agency’s client numbers ballooned, particularly with inflation, gas prices and the high cost of groceries.


Partnering for the future Bell hopes to work more with the modern languages department to have a Spanish speaker at Hope on an interim basis, Bell said. They’re also working to train the staff with some basic Spanish language skills.


The agency also would like to work with the Winthrop community on its community garden and in helping offer an Honors College leadership class. Other ideas include bringing in human nutrition students to give short presentations on nutritious meals or to bring in social work students to work as interns.


“We already have lots of ties to Winthrop that peo- ple don’t know about,” Bell said. Before the dean of students and the human nutrition department started on-campus food pantries, Hope House helped Win- throp students who were experiencing food insecurity.


“Our ties with Winthrop run deep, as they should,” Bell said.


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