A Soft Opening

Ten months after purchasing the property that was known as the old Mt. Nebo Store, we are finally ready to open to the public the new Mt. Nebo Center, home of  Martic Store and Martic Pantry. This has certainly been an interesting journey with lots of twists and turns but through it all we have continually been amazed with the encouragement that we have received from friends and community and with windows that have opened when doors were slammed shut. 

Tomorrow we plan to have a soft opening for Martic Store which is a discount grocery store. Most of our items are close to expiration date so we are able to sell them cheaply. We also plan to offer breakfast and lunch sandwiches and coffee. Hopefully, soft ice cream will be available in the near future. Many have been working hard the last several weeks to get the store up and running. There seemed to be a never ending list of things that needed to get done, from cleaning, painting, wiring, and remodeling to purchasing groceries and stocking shelves. When we look around, there are still things that need finished but we believe we have come far enough to open our doors to shoppers. If all goes well with tomorrow's soft opening (which is by invite only) we will open to the public on Monday.

The plan is to use proceeds from the store to fund the pantry.  Persons who come to us that need help with food, will be given a gift card to use at the store. This will allow them to purchase items that they know their family will use as opposed to just giving them a bag of groceries as most other food banks do. We anticipate that the pantry will be operating by summer. We have already received some monetary donations for it and once we get a feel of how much income the store brings in, we will be able to anticipate the amount of funds we can put towards the pantry each month.

This is all new territory for us and sometimes it feels overwhelming. We are trusting God with each step we take and I can honestly say that I have come a long way from my initial doubts and opposition to it. I can see the way God has provided for us when we thought we were coming up against a brick wall and this has increased my faith. I am excited (and a bit apprehensive) to see how the journey unfolds.

If you are reading this, you are probably a friend or family member as I don't think anyone else would want to bore themselves with my blog. Consider this your invitation to join us tomorrow for our soft opening. The store will be open from 9:00 until 2:00. Come out and look around and do some shopping as well!