Cradle of Hope expands to Ft. Madison, gains more volunteers

By MEGAN COOPER

Mt. Pleasant News

Cradle of Hope is seeing a surge in volunteers and donations, allowing it to expand to other counties.

As of Thursday, July 17, Cradle of Hope now has a site in Ft. Madison. It is located at the Living Hope Church of the Nazarene and the Rev. Jim and Brenda Hoffman are the driving forces behind the expansion.

?This would not have been possible without them,? said Doni Townsend, a volunteer at Cradle of Hope. ?There are eight new volunteers helping at the site and now we can serve more clients. We offer the same services as we do at our other sites, which include free pregnancy tests, free counseling and the Earn While You Learn classes.?

According to Townsend, Cradle of Hope has added 18 new volunteers, which, besides being able to open a site in Ft. Madison, allows the site in Fairfield to be open one day a week, instead of once a month.

?We are really excited that we have the volunteers to offer this,? said Townsend. ?It?s just so great, and so many new people have been helping us out. We just got done holding our Baby Bottle Campaign and we raised $7,100, which is almost $2,000 more than last year. We had so many businesses helping out.?

The volunteers are coming in all ages as well, even the young are helping out and doing what they can to keep Cradle of Hope alive.

?We had some young girls, ages six to twelve, who wanted to help us out,? explained Townsend. ?There is only so much they can do though because of confidentiality and what not. So, we decided to have these girls help with our fetal models that we pass out. It?s a tiny baby and the girls made blankets for those. Shawna Hudson, one of the mother?s of the girls, was a big reason this group came about. They are named Girls of Hope, and try to do what they can to help.

?The girls meet once a month and we talk about babies, what happens, and they discuss what other activities they could do to help. They talked about the Old Thresher?s Parade coming up soon, and even talked about the Giving Tree at Christmas time. They are really excited to help and it?s great to see these young girls so involved,? said Townsend.

Other upcoming events for Cradle of Hope include a 5K Walk/Run at East Lake Park on Oct. 11. Cradle of Hope is still seeking volunteers for the event. Another event is the holiday bizarre for home businesses, like Mary Kay consultants and Pampered Chef.

?So much has happened this year and it?s just exciting,? expressed Townsend. ?It?s great to see the community coming together and so many volunteers helping out so we can provide these services. It truly is a blessing.?