Church providing bedding to children
RIDGELAND — A church here that offers beds to underprivileged children, specifically those in foster care, has reached its goal of 400 as efforts continue to raise funds and gather resources for those in need.
“The majority of those beds went to children and that means hundreds of children are sleeping in beds this year who were not last year and that is a worthy endeavor,” said Thomas Dent, a center volunteer.
Every Tuesday morning the Resource Center at Ridgeland’s Trace Ridge Church off of Lake Harbour Dive opens its doors and offers food, clothing, household items and prayer to those in need.
The center gave away 400 beds on Tuesday, Dec. 6 meeting a goal set earlier in the summer, Dent said.
“The mission of The Resource Center is to provide food, clothing, and beds for children in the Mississippi foster care system and families experiencing a crisis,” Dent said. “The vision of The Resource Center is for every child to be sleeping in their own bed, have clothes that fit, and access to food every day.”
In early June, Dent said they had given away about 200 beds and around 200 sets of bedding sheets. At the time he said they would like to double that by the end of the year.
Efforts at the center are ongoing. Dent said those interested still have until Dec. 31, to make a tax-deductible donation to their Beds of Hope drive. The project notes that every $6,000 raised could provide as many as 30 beds to those in need.
Christy Street, an organizer of the Resource Center, said each Tuesday the church opens its doors to a line of roughly 100 people and they see old and new faces every week.
Street said the center started with a clothing drive in 2018 and soon ballooned when the church built a shed on the property to house the many donations they received in 2020.
The center is open every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the third Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and is located at Trace Ridge Church, 238 Lake Harbour Drive, Ridgeland, MS 39157.
For more information, email resourcecenter@traceridge.org or contact them on Facebook.