The Emporia Rescue Mission Board of Directors is expected to have financial information to the city of Emporia Monday as the city and United Way of the Flint Hills continue their work to keep the doors of Abundant Harvest open through the remainder of the calendar year.
After announcing this commitment to Abundant Harvest just over a week ago, city manager Trey Cocking noted city officials had requested certain financial information, namely a budget for continued operations, from the rescue mission by noon Monday. In an interview with KVOE News Sunday afternoon, Rescue Mission Board President Peter Deblonk stated a committee had been appointed to gather and compile said information and they have been working diligently over the past week.
Finances will be an important piece of this picture because, as you may recall, finances were the main factor in the Rescue Mission Board’s decision to close Abundant Harvest late last month. Deblonk had stated that the cost of maintenance and upkeep, food pickup and delivery and staff salaries were the main areas of concern.
During our interview with Deblonk, KVOE News asked when the last time an audit of the food kitchen mission had been conducted, to which Deblonk, who has been with the Rescue Mission for roughly 20 years, stated he never recalled seeing an audit in his time.
Deblonk then stated he and the board are open to and would welcome an audit at any time.
As KVOE has mentioned before, the continuance of operations for Abundant Harvest will not be long-term as it is still set to close its doors at the end of 2025. Deblonk says the assistance from the city and United Way is simply meant to help buy time to find a suitable replacement to continue the work of Abundant Harvest well into the future.
In the meantime, the Rescue Mission is affording the city and United Way the use of the Abundant Harvest kitchen and equipment; however, it will not mean the return of all Abundant Harvest staff who were recently given notice of the kitchen’s closure, according to Deblonk.
There has been no word as of yet on whether the city and United Way’s involvement will have any impact on the hours of operation or services set to be provided through Abundant Harvest through the remainder of the year. This continues to be a developing story and KVOE will have additional updates as they are made available on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media.
