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This is Chris Redgrave for Zions Bank Speaking on Business.
You could say the Christian Center in Park City is the ultimate community facilitator between community needs and the generosity of the people. This non-denominational community center includes the largest food pantry in Summit and Wasatch counties, two thrift stores, and a boutique shop and engages hundreds of volunteers in thousands of hours of service. I'm sure this is one reason Utah has been first in the nation for volunteerism for seven years running.
The main focus for Executive Director Rob Harter is to meet people at their point of need in this growing community. The state of Utah has a thriving refugee program, and some of these folks need a lift when they arrive. They regularly team up with the Department of Workforce Services to assist families with food, clothes, household items and other areas of need.
This team of dedicated employees is always looking for ways to support citizens. During ski season many international students and seasonal workers come to work and ski the beautiful Wasatch Front. They often arrive with no place to stay and need food, furniture and roommates. The Christian Center found out about this and set up the Roommate Roundup. On Tuesday nights they host a special program for these students who get together for a free food and activity night, which started earlier this week.
The economic need is not missed on the Christian Center, especially when it comes to kids. They sponsor a program where they provide a backpack with a child's name on it filled with enough healthy, kid-friendly food to last the child for the weekend.
They started this program after discovering how many children were going hungry on the weekends. This program continues throughout the school year as the child returns the backpack each week in order to get it filled on Friday before they go home. The Christian Center of Park City has extended this exciting backpack program to the school children of the Goshute Tribe. They're also providing a mobile food pantry and have started a community garden to support this group.
For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.
Christian Center of Park City 1238 Deer Valley Dr. Park City, UT 84068 435-649-2260 www.ccofpc.org
