The Hope Center in Smithville is used to helping those in need. The staff that keep the center running volunteer their time, helping those who have fallen on hard times or need a little assistance. But the Hope Center took a little time last Friday to honor one of their own. A 92-year-old volunteer that always has a smile on her face.

The Hope Center Ministries on West Broad Street in Smithville, is located in the former Terrell’s Pharmacy building. There, Joyce Robinson explained that the center accepts donations of all kinds for those in need.

“The Baptist Association took over the Hope Center in 2018, to get 36 churches involved, along with the community, for donations,” Robinson said. “The items donated to the center are given to those in need for free. We have beds, refrigerators, stoves ... whatever people bring us. We have couches, furniture, and all kinds of clothes and shoes. That’s what the Hope Center is all about. We are all volunteers, so no one gets paid.”

It is one of those hard working volunteers the center decided to honor on their 92nd birthday, Violet Pack. “She has been faithful, Robinson said. “She’s always at church and always has a smile. She’s 92 years old and she comes up here and works so diligently. You will never catch her without a smile. She wants to spend her time serving, and serving Christ. That’s what it’s all about.”

According to Robinson, Pack was a member of Elizabeth Chapel Church when it started, when it was located under the hill where the lake is now in the Casey’s Cove area. “When the church moved up here in 1947, she came too. She’s been a volunteer with the Hope Center for the past two years and is just wonderful.

The center held a surprise birthday party for Pack, complete with cake and refreshments. Happy Birthday.