Bethel Neighborhood Center reaches midway point of expansion campaign

The Bethel Neighborhood Center, a Kansas City, Kan., nonprofit center that helps low-income children and families, has reached the midway point of its building and program expansion.

The center launched the fundraising campaign in July 2014 and on Saturday announced it has raised more than $1 million in cash and pledges. The money is for expansion of the center at 14 S. Seventh Street Trafficway in Kansas City to serve more families in need.

The Rev. Mang Sonna, Bethel’s executive director, said that although Bethel is 104 years old, it hasn’t done any large fundraising campaigns like this.

“There was doubt we would get the goal,” Sonna said. “I am surprised by God’s and people’s generosity.”

To celebrate the success of the campaign, the Junior League of Wyandotte and Johnson Counties organized a carnival and health fair on Saturday. The Junior League also donated $30,000 to the center to support the expansion of its food pantry.

Jennifer Yates, president of the Junior League of Wyandotte and Johnson Counties, said said that a community advisory panel it had last year determined that hunger and homelessness were two of the greatest needs in the two counties.

Yates said the Junior League was looking for a partner to help address those issues. That’s when the organization found out that Bethel was looking to expand its food pantry.

“It fell right in with what we were trying to do with the hunger issue in both Wyandotte and Johnson Counties,” Yates said. “They already have an amazing system in place. We can just help to add to it.”

The center is hoping to raise $2 million, with about $1.8 million to renovate and expand the campus and the remainder to add needed services to children, their families, seniors and other underserved people in the community.

The goal was to raise the money in three years, but Sonna is optimistic that the center could reach its goal within the next year.

“I would like to say thanks for their generosity, and their generosity will be transforming a lot of lives in the city,” Sonna said.

For more information about Bethel Neighborhood Center and its capital campaign, go to its website at http://www.bethelcenter.org/.

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Bethel Neighborhood Center reaches midway point of expansion campaign."