ABOUT MARLENE'S KITCHEN FOUNDATION

There is a well-used and timeworn warehouse proudly standing just a short distance from the city center in Downtown Somerset, Kentucky. It was originally built in 1945 by the citizens of Pulaski County. At this time, America had just encountered some of the hardest economic times it would ever see, and the local community had pinned its hopes and dreams on this warehouse, creating jobs to support the families in the area. The Goodall Company, a clothing manufacturer that was renamed Palm Beach a few years later, moved into the building in 1946, bringing with it a payroll of over $1,000,000 and employing 300 people, mostly women. The property was expanded twice in the years to come and eventually employed more than 800. The investment this community made in itself paid off in a big way, as this factory served the people in South Central Kentucky well for 56 years!

 

Eventually, Palm Beach closed its doors in 2002, and the property was returned to the people of Pulaski County. Since then, it has been leased to several companies doing various sorts of cardboard manufacturing, but it was left vacant in the fall of 2020. At this time, the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority (SPEDA) needed to decide what the property’s best use would be. The location was no longer suited to manufacturing, the warehouse needed many repairs, and the property needed to provide some benefit to the people in the region. As in many small towns across America, relationships and partnerships are created as everyone works together towards common goals. SPEDA Director, Chris Girdler, knew there was one local entity looking for a place such as Palm Beach. He and his board reached out to God’s Food Pantry, a local nonprofit with a (then) 40-year history of service to the community, and offered to sell the property to them at a greatly reduced cost, and they embraced that opportunity. This is just another example of the community investing in this warehouse, knowing it will create opportunities to make life better for families throughout the region.

 

God’s Food Pantry, in its current location, is providing 97,000 food service visits yearly to individuals and families in need. They have also opened a non-food redistribution center providing much-needed items to 151 other non-profit partners who are serving thousands of families all across Kentucky. All of this, and they are debt-free and are now ready to expand their programs even more! The purchase of the Palm Beach facility provides God’s Food Pantry with almost six acres of land and 100,000 square feet of warehouse space to expand its impact. This creates an abundance of opportunity for serving others through education, counseling, and support services, with the goal being to assist those living in poverty in overcoming barriers to self-sufficiency and experience a higher quality of life.

 

The Palm Beach warehouse will soon become the new OakPointe Centre with a targeted completion date of late 2027. The existing building will go through an extensive makeover, starting with a new roof and windows, along with updating the exterior. Inside the building, you will find a regional food pantry, a clothing center, a feeding center, and the Lifelearning Center as the anchor nonprofits in the building. The balance (35,000 sq. ft.) of the building will become spaces available for lease to other entities dedicated to the mission of moving poverty-stricken families forward in their lives. We expect that it will include a restaurant (pairing workforce development and addiction recovery), a financial education/banking partner, counseling services, addiction services, showers for the homeless, and so much more. The expected lease income of $15,000-$20,000 monthly will be the sustainability factor that takes care of maintenance, utilities, management expenses, and insurance on the building. The past few years have been rough on so many people, and especially hard on low-income families.

 

The pandemic, along with a challenging economy, has created obstacles and heartache unlike any we have seen in the past few generations. The tough times may not rival what was happening in the 1940’s, but it certainly leaves us with a significant number of people who need the services OakPointe Centre will provide. Somerset-Pulaski County and the entire South Central region of Kentucky are ready for OakPointe Centre to become a reality as soon as possible. The elected officials, business leaders, individuals, and other partner agencies are ready to support God’s Food Pantry through the entire process of completing this project and beyond. The vision the people of Pulaski County had in building this warehouse was one of hope and anticipation that the building would be good for everyone... and it was for more than 5 decades. Today, God’s Food Pantry is igniting that hope and anticipation once again, knowing that the creation of OakPointe Centre will bring this property back full circle to once again fulfilling the purpose of making life better for thousands of people!