The agreement between the city of Emporia and United Way of the Flint Hills for continuing Abundant Harvest operations through the remainder of the calendar year is now finalized.
United Way of the Flint Hills Director Daphne Mertens announced the agreement’s completion in a news release late Wednesday afternoon. According to Mertens, the United Way’s role will be to oversee management of the program from now through the end of December.
The city’s involvement will see them allocating $25,000 to support program operations through the end of the year. According to City Manager Trey Cocking, the $25,000 may not be needed entirely; however, they have chosen to err on the side of caution in the event unexpected expenses arise.
The agreement will run through December 31, 2025, with both the city and United Way hoping to have a new entity, or entities, in place to take over the food distribution services by that time. Speaking of which, KVOE News asked Mertens if there had been any progress towards that end thus far.
She says there are no official commitments in place at this time; however, they have had several productive conversations with various community partners in recent weeks.
As for the collaboration between the city and United Way, once the agreement expires, KVOE News asked both Cocking and Mertens if there had been any plans or discussions towards continuing those cooperative efforts past the end of the year. Cocking says there is nothing official; however, the city is willing to continue doing what it must to help ensure all Emporia families have access to food.
Mertens says she believes the city will continue to help support the cause in some fashion; however, she could not speak to the extent of that future involvement.
The development of this operation agreement began shortly after the Emporia Rescue Mission announced its plans to close the community food kitchen by October 1, late last month. The City and United Way quickly mobilized and stated their dedication to finding a way to continue the non-profit’s operations for the remainder of the year, at which time it will close permanently, and have spent the majority of September doing just that.
During her interview with KVOE News on Wednesday, Mertens says she is very proud of the progress they made in such a short time frame and what it will mean for the Emporia community going forward.
KVOE News has reached out to Emporia Rescue Mission Board President Peter DeBlonk for his reaction to the agreement’s finalization.
