Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Fountain of Hope continues food bank, has some toys for Christmas season

Darrel Potratz, Fountain of Hope food bank director, said the local branch, which opened across from the Methodist Church in October off of Second Street, will continue "to supply food as long as my son keeps sending it from Los Angeles, Calif."

The national organization came to Gurdon this fall and set up shop where the old Gravell Pharmacy used to be located. Potratz said his son, Pastor Martin Potratz, started the non-profit organization in the middle 1990s, with the mission of, "distributing donations to populations overlooked by the rest of the world."

"My son put me to work with the principal of providing a hand-up rather than a hand-out," Potratz told Rotarians.

"If you are aware of families that are in need, and want to sponsor them, we would like a note or letter signed. That way, we can supply them with a box of food, and we will supply a copy describing what we have done to the sponsoring church or other agency."

Potratz said Fountain of Hope continues through donations and secondly by way of people buying memberships for $5 a year. When a person buys a membership, they can come and shop, after contributing the minimum suggested donation.

"We are a certified tax deduction and will supply the tax papers to those who want them. While I have mostly food, at the present time I have a lot of toys, mostly 99 cent store items," he said. "We still encourage a sponsorship note, and then we give the toys out by the box full. I discourage just an individual showing up, but I won't turn anybody away. Members can get a box of toys."

Potratz said the toys are appropriate for boys, girls and baby tots.

Regular hours for Fountain of Hope are 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

In addition to being supportive of the effort put forth by the Fountain of Hope, Rotarians voted to give $100 to Jason Smith for his efforts to help local families in need during the holidays with toys and food.