The Laura Miller George Help Center received some critical help as it celebrated its 60th anniversary July 8 in Mexico.

A check of $30,000 from AP Green will be used to purchase food items and to purchase a new reach-in freezer for the distribution room.

The celebration had a good turnout and was more than Kim Archer, Help Center executive director, anticipated. 

She said celebrating the 60th anniversary achieves a landmark status. 

“I believe we are the third or fourth in line as (far as) longevity for Mexico,” she said, referring to businesses still operating. 

Jim Kropf, Help Center board chairman, said he likes seeing the progress of the Help Center, including the expansion of the center, and how much the community appreciates the assistance. People getting assistance are called neighbors, rather than clients or patrons. The center provides food and other assistance.

“The development of (the building) and the support of the community for that facility has been absolutely unbelievable,” he said. “It’s an organization that serves a purpose for so many people.”

Kropf praised Archer for the job she does at the center, which holds 10 to 13 distributions a month, with those coming on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Help’s Center’s store is open Monday through Friday. People are welcome to drop by once a month for the center’s pantry assistance, and in an emergency situation, a second visit is allowed in the same month.

“We serve around 700 households a month,” Archer said, explaining that the center helps anybody who lives in Audrain County, with proof of residence required (photo ID). There’s no income requirement to get assistance, except for the senior box program, a federal program that is income restricted. Archer said the Help Center can make exceptions, depending on their circumstances, for people who live close by but not in Audrain County. The Food Bank of Central & Northeast Missouri supplies food to the Help Center, but the Help Center receives about half of what it used to. Local businesses and groups donate food to The Help Center.

Distribution days at the Help Center are noon to 4 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday and 2-5:30 p.m. Friday.

In addition to providing food assistance, the Help Center helps Audrain residents with other needs, such as utility bills if people get a disconnect notice, and they can be funded up to a certain amount; hygiene and cleaning supplies, depending on availability; diapers, twice a month; and birth certificates and replacement of IDs, with birth certificates requiring people to have been born in Missouri. 

The Help Center’s store sells a number of goods, from clothes to furniture to jewelry. Everything is donated, Archer said. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and donations are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on those days. 

“The store is our only steady source of income to keep the utilities paid and keep the doors open,” she said. Some income comes from grants and monetary donations from the public, as well as food donations from the public. Other businesses, organizations and schools also do their part to help the Help Center with various needs. The Help Center welcomes volunteers, especially during the Red Kettle campaign in November and December, Archer said.

The center’s online info states the Audrain County Human Development Corporation was organized in 1965 by a group of Mexico residents in an effort to coordinate services to the families of Audrain County living in poverty. 

“For many years this organization was a small food pantry and a thrift store located on East Breckenridge St. in Mexico,” the website noted, adding that in 2009 the board of directors changed the name to The Help Center, Inc. and in late 2013 and 2014 the board began the process of planning for growth and expansion. 

“They began to work on plans for growth and Alan & Susan Atkins donated a parcel of land at 403 Fairground in Mexico and with financial donations, they purchased additional adjoining land, a total of 7 acres including the address of 409 Fairground, which is now the address of The Help Center,” the website stated. 

Planning and fundraising began in earnest, and with the “tremendous support” of the Mexico community, grants from charitable foundations, a NAP tax credit and the support of Dudley Miller, the organization began construction of a new building, which was completed and opened in June 2015. The new building was named "The Laura Miller George Help Center," in honor of Dudley Miller's mother, Mrs. Laura Mae Miller, who  

spent her life helping others and the organization is “honored to serve others under her namesake,” the website stated.

The original portion of the building was 15,000 square feet and housed the much-enhanced food pantry and thrift store, the website stated.

In 2017, the website stated, the board of directors recognized the need for growth of the thrift store portion of the non-profit business and by May 2018 had added 7,000 square feet to the back of the building for a thrift store warehouse, noting that the center is now a 22,000 square foot facility. A storage building was added last year.

Archer said she hopes the center next summer or fall redo the back parking lot, adding that the center has added new parking lot lights.