NEWPORT NEWS — Exactly one year after the very first shoppers grabbed a cart and picked out their own food at the Peninsula’s first free grocery store, THRIVE Peninsula announced that it surpassed the “Future for THRIVE” capital campaign goal of $1.5 million.
“We are thrilled that the community rallied around our mission to help us surpass our goal. It shows that people on the Peninsula want to invest in the future of their neighbors and their stability,” said Angela York, Executive Director of THRIVE Peninsula. “It’s a reminder to our community that there are people out there who truly care about each other, and we can find hope in that.”
The campaign funds will pay off the renovation cost of the space and eliminate the organization’s mortgage, making it a debt-free charity by 2026 using gifts and pledges.
Opening day on Nettles Drive on Nov. 20, 2023, saw THRIVE volunteers, staff, shoppers, and financial services clients joined by construction workers and renovation volunteers who were still actively finishing out spaces.
Major renovations continued through March as the organization slowly added programs and resources along the way, the organization said.
“The dust had not settled, but it was time to move in,” said Angela York, Executive Director of THRIVE Peninsula. ”Neighbors in our Peninsula community were calling off the hook for help and we had to act fast to expand. So we did.”
On top of the traditional emergency financial assistance and financial literacy services, THRIVE Peninsula launched a variety of other services over the past year inside the new community hub.
Services and features include:
- The Free Bookstore, hosted in partnership with REACH Reads, which offers brand new books to children and youth.
- The Garden at THRIVE, an on-site produce garden presented by Riverside Health, which grows food to stock The Market.
- Hispanic Services — connecting Spanish-speaking clients to all of THRIVE’s services — its fastest-growing client demographic.
The new building has also created opportunities for sustainability. The on-site garden uses rain barrels and self-watering garden boxes to help grow food. And, thanks to a gift from the Redekop Family Foundation, the building features solar panels which will reduce the organization’s electricity costs by 50%, which tend to run high due to commercial refrigeration.
Plus, THRIVE hosts two tenants inside the building which contribute towards the financial sustainability of the organization’s mission.
THRIVE set out to serve 25,000 its first year in the new building, but leaders say they’ve already served 30,000 people.
“Our first year has been wildly successful and it’s given us the chance to get creative in how we can meet the needs of the community, offering services in a way that is dignified and accessible”, York said. “The best part is that, with the generous support of this community, we have built a solid foundation for growth and we are just getting started”.
