Hope’s Closet gets donation, to benefit from bond restructure

CABOT — When Kimberly Buchberger first moved to Cabot from Louisiana, she saw a need in the community.

“God gave me this intuition that this is what he wanted me to do,” she said.

Hope’s Closet & Pantry started in her garage in 2006, and support by the people in the community, area churches and grants has allowed the nonprofit to expand. She said the closet provides clothing and other necessities, and there is a food pantry of about 600 to 700 square feet.

“We aren’t your normal food pantry. We are a supplement food pantry for those on food stamps,” she said. “We can step in and help them out until they get their next check.”

She said anybody who meets the income requirement can get clothing.

“We aren’t a thrift store, but if I opened it up to everybody, then I wouldn’t have anything for people who need it,” she said.

In January, Hope’s Closet & Pantry received a $10,000 donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after one of its members was volunteering at the closet and saw the work the nonprofit was doing. Buchberger said the money will be used to help expand the Housing, Education and Life-skills Program, or HELP.

Naomi Bratton serves on the board of directors for Hope’s Closet and is the president of the board of directors for HELP. She said the two organizations are not financially intertwined but work closely together. Hope’s Closet is named after Buchberger’s daughter.

“Right now, Hope’s Closet provides clothing and food, and HELP provides a place to stay until those in need can get into their own apartments,” Buchberger said.

She said the money will go toward the expansion of the closet to better serve the community efficiently. She said she has seen an increase in need over the past year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she makes two or three trips per month to the food bank. She said the donation gave the closet a big jump start toward its fundraising efforts for the year.

Bratton said HELP offers financial counseling, assistance with writing a resume and a transitional living facility. She said everything at Hope’s Closet is 100 percent free.

Buchberger said a lot of single parents and grandparents raising children on a fixed income use the closet.

“[The $10,000 from the LDS church] is an amazing donation, an amount that we were not expecting,” Bratton said. “It means we can take a deep breath and help those who are in need.

“I am absolutely grateful to the church for stepping up and partnering with us.”

On March 31, the Cabot City Council passed an ordinance to hold a special election on Aug. 10 on a $69 million bond issue. Bratton said the bond will create a substantial amount of money for the city to draw from to conduct street repairs and improve its animal-control services, but will also allow Hope’s Closet to become part of a new municipal pantry that is run by volunteers.

“The mayor and City Council members have been really supportive of our expansion and [have a] willingness to see that our city has a need here,” Buchberger said. “They have been helping us and supporting us — it means a lot to have the city and mayor behind us.”