This weekend, Your Neighbor’s House (YNH), Whitesboro’s beloved food bank and thrift store, will celebrate its 20th year in operation. The organization will celebrate in the same way it serves its community – humbly, quietly and without any fanfare.
For years, citizens in need were helped by food collections at local churches. However, with a lack of storage space to keep donated items, Whitesboro area churches joined hands with citizens in 2004 to form a not-for-profit corporation to help citizens in need.
Named “Your Neighbor’s House,” the nonprofit would provide food storage and distribution of donated items of food, clothing and household items to needy families in Western Grayson County. It would operate in a building located at 201 South Union Street that was obtained from the First United Methodist Church (FUMC). However, the building needed some serious renovations totaling $15,000 before it could be inhabited by the organization.
A community-wide effort was forged to raise the necessary funds to proceed with plans. A bank account was set up at the Security Bank of Whitesboro for people to make donations. All area churches and Western Grayson County citizens were encouraged to participate.
From creative fundraising (like cardboard boxes handcrafted to look like little houses left at area businesses for patrons to donate spare change) and a spaghetti supper held at the FUMC to a generous $2,000 grant from Grace Presbyterian’s Mission Program (as a result of an offering of $1,000 previously given by First Presbyterian Church of Whitesboro), Your Neighbor’s House was closer to becoming a reality.
In February 2005, YNH officially began what would become decades of service to the community. All proceeds from its open-to-the-public thrift shop (then named The Rebekah Room) were used to purchase food for the food bank. A ministerial alliance was formed to coordinate the operation of the food pantry to ensure YNH was efficiently meeting the needs of the community.
YNH was able to purchase food at a shared maintenance cost and then distribute it to residents of Western Grayson County who qualified according to the policies of the North Texas Food Bank.
The nonprofit was operated completely by volunteers who donated their time and energy to serving the community. YNH was managed by Executive Director Marlene Tillman, Assistant Director and Thrift Shop Coordinator Valda Hardwell, Office and Food Purchasing Manager Arlene Harris and Food Distribution Manager Shirley Neighbors.
That spring, the Whitesboro Area Chamber of Commerce recognized YNH with the Humanitarian Award at its annual banquet. The organization became an official chamber member in February 2007 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Throughout the years, YNH has supported the community in countless ways. In 2008, they provided Interior Design students at Whitesboro High School with a recently-accepted desk that needed some work. The students rebuilt broken pieces, sanded and painted the piece as a class project. The desk was then returned to the shop to be sold to benefit the food bank.
That same year, the YNH food bank was outgrowing its location so they added onto their building. Then-Director Ann Bell officially opened the new food pantry on May 3, 2008. They celebrated with a ribbon cutting and open house a month later on June 6, 2008.
“We are truly blessed to live in a community where so many people care about others who are in need and donate time, money, food and thrift items so generously,” Bell said.
In February the following year, the Whitesboro City Council recognized YNH as Outstanding Volunteer Group for the month.
As the years went on, the nonprofit earned several honors and accolades, both as an organization and among its individual volunteers. In May 2015, 91-year-old Bell recognized YNH volunteer Ralph Carney for 4,000 hours of volunteer service at the food pantry. The State of Texas House of Representatives sent Carney a Texas state flag flown at the Capitol and a certificate of acknowledgement.
Community support continued to enable YNH to thrive, from local groups holding fundraisers on the charity’s behalf to contributions and food drives made by area businesses and organizations.
In 2016, Bell retired after 10 years of serving as the director of YNH and was honored at a Whitesboro City Council meeting. Connie Lloyd soon stepped into the role to continue the work Bell had been doing.
In 2023, YNH announced that it had once again outgrown its location. The organization secured a building at 109 Chestnut Street in Whitesboro that would provide the space needed for YNH to adequately serve the needs of its growing community.
“Our numbers are growing and have been since COVID. That’s both a great thing and not so great for families,” Lloyd said at the time. Lloyd said the food pantry gave 240,000 pounds of food to the community and served 166 families in the past year.
“We are just so grateful that we have been able to assist (the community) in so many ways that we can funnel so many resources throughout the community,” Lloyd said.
The new building provided space for an entire new food distribution area, more space to sort and organize food, an entire new thrift store constructed in a barndominium style, new offices for the director and volunteers and an area for people to apply for SNAP benefits and Medicare. They even included a sizeable space as a break room area for staff and volunteers.
In November 2023, YNH officially moved into their new facility and on March 27 the following year, the Whitesboro Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for the organization’s new location.
Since then, YNH has been able to better serve the community through food items, clothing and home goods. In 2024, YNH served 8,683 individuals in need in Western Grayson County. Volunteers put in 15,685 hours of service distributing 237,486 pounds of food to those individuals, 50,335 pounds of which was donated by local grocers, churches, schools, businesses, civic groups and private citizens.
In addition to providing food and clothing to the underprivileged, YNH provides services to area families who have lost items due to fire or natural disaster. For 20 years, YNH has been blessing our community in ways we do and don’t know – quietly, humbly and without fanfare.
This Saturday, May 17, stop by Your Neighbor’s House to congratulate the staff and volunteers on two incredible decades of service. You may notice informational flyers and posters on display around the store, but otherwise it’s just business as usual for these civil servants.
Your Neighbor’s House is located at 109 Chestnut Street in Whitesboro. The food pantry is always in need of donations, especially a wish list of:
Peanut butter
Canned vegetables
Mini trail mix bags
Fresh produce
Shelf stable milk
Boxed cereal
Pasta
Canned tuna
Canned fruit
Canned ravioli
Fresh eggs
Mac & cheese
Crackers
Pasta sauce
The thrift store accepts donations of new and gently used family clothing, furniture and household items during service hours.
Food pantry hours are Tuesday 9 a.m.-noon, Thursday noon-3 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.-noon. (Visit YourNeighborsHouse.org to see if you qualify for assistance.) Thrift store hours are Tuesday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday noon-3 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Lastly (but most importantly), Your Neighbor’s House is always in need of volunteers. To learn about opportunities, please call 903-564-4400.