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Vol. 35, No. 11
January ary 2023
15,000 Circulation
Elko Edition Reachi Reaching ing Elkhart, Kosciusko, Noble And LaGrange Counties
begins 51st year serving Wa-Nee community 7H[W DQG 3KRWRV %\ .(,7+ .1(33 (GLWRU As the calendar turns to 2023, Nappanee Open Door begins its 51st year of serving the Nappanee and Wakarusa communities. It began in 1972 in the basement of the since demolished building that housed the Nappanee United Methodist Church. “It started with a group of community leaders as more like a community assist, taking people to doctor’s appointments, picking up medicine, taking people out of town to visit relatives,” said John Personett, the organization’s executive director. “They didn’t go into the food side of things for at least a couple years.” After the city acquired the former train depot from CSX in the mid-1980s, it eventually offered the space to then executive director Hank Whelan, who served in that position for 27 years. “Open Door has been in this building ever since, serving food to the community,” said Personett. “We service families in the Wa-Nee school district, so we operate in both Elkhart and Kosciusko counties. We provide food, rent and utility assistance and vouchers through the Nappanee United Methodist Thrift Shop for clothes.” The income requirements for Open Door’s clients are the same as those for the free/reduced lunch program in the schools. Upon their first visit, families must show proof of residency
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$ERYH +,6725,& 9(18( ³ 7KH IRUPHU 1DS SDQHH WUDLQ GHSRW KDV EHHQ UHSXUSRVHG WR KRXVH 2SHQ 'RRU D FRPPXQLW\ DVVLVWDQFH RUJDQL]DWLRQ VHUYLQJ 1DSSDQHH DQG :DNDUXVD 5LJKW 5($'< 72 *2 ³ %DJV RI SUHVHOHFWHG IRRG DUH UHDG\ IRU FOLHQWV RI 2SHQ 'RRU WR VWRS E\ DQG FODLP and income and can then come semimonthly. Personett explained Open Door procures most of its food from the Northern Indiana Food Bank, either through donation or by discounted purchase. There are other sources, including Milford Food Bank, from which Open Door stocks its Continued on page 3
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