Hope and Help for Seasoned Citizens
By Gary S. Hatrick
The Hope Chest has traditionally been associated with the young as an aspiring bride who placed items in a box representing her hopes and dreams of a future married life.
In Zephyrhills, however, the Hope Chest takes on another meaning. It is a place where those for whom life has been sullied by time can become reacquainted with a brighter outlook and find hope once again.
The Hope Chest in Zephyrhills, FL is a non-profit organization that reaches out to seniors, sometimes with the help of children, to bring meaning and purpose to life and help in areas of need.
Daron Moore, chief operating officer of Hope Chest, explains the mission of Hope Chest.
"We support seniors primarily in two areas. Moore said. "We focus on social isolation and food insecurity."
"The social isolation piece is our primary focus," Moore continued. "When seniors retire, some are not sure what to do. Many of them fall into a world where they're by themselves or they're isolated. There aren't many friends or loved ones available. We're trying to kind of create opportunities for them to be seen, heard, and valued. We host events that create these full-circle moments so that they're able to contribute to the community and the community's able to contribute to them across multiple generations."
"Our tagline is 'generosity across generations.' We try to create programs that put young people with seasoned people, as we like to call them, to give back and to do things that support one another," Moore explained.
Hope Chest does this with a three-pronged attack. One part of the program is called "Golden Gatherings."
"We do five to seven events every month," Moore said. "The first three Wednesdays of each month, we host a bingo, and our bingo's a little different than typical bingo because our giveaways, our prizes are household items. There are things like cleaning supplies and aluminum foil, trash bags, things that they're going to use. We also host on the second Tuesday of each month, something called Tissue Tuesday, where we give essential paper products away to seniors. The third Monday, we do a fresh produce giveaway with fresh fruits and vegetables.
"We have an active program as well," Moore added. "We'll do things like cherry aerobics or educational seminars, things that are going to help seniors live more fruitful, fulfilling lives."
"Harvest Hope is our food insecurity program, Moore continued. "Harvest Hope is anything that has to do with food, and that ranges from our free produce giveaways to an annual turkey drive. Last year, we gave away 100 turkeys to seniors. We know that if someone wants to try to get out of some level of depression or they want to socialize, that's not going to happen if their immediate needs aren't met, or if they are not being fed, or finding healthy alternatives to just eating ramen or whatever they might be eating."
A third program is in its beginning stages and is unique. It digs deep into the needs of seniors.
"Our Gratitude Garden is a program where we will partner with local schools, elementary through high school, to plant, grow, and cultivate flowers, that we will use to create bouquets and then send them out to isolated seniors as just a way to let them know that they're thought about," Moore said.
"While they're in that garden, they're learning from one another, the young, with the old, the old with the young,” Moore added. "That garden is starting very, very small, just right here on our campus. But we hope it will grow into something larger, maybe in a separate park. Maybe we can find somewhere where we can partner with some local officials to create a larger garden that's going to be a generational garden."
Hope Chest is the heart-child of Catherine Lackey, owner of Veracity Insurance, located next door to the Hope Chest. Lackey comes from a family going back three generations that believes in helping those in need. She does her part to offer help to seniors through the Hope Chest
"We are primarily Medicare providers, but we're also licensed with the Department of Children and Families, so we can help support with Medicaid applications, food stamp applications," Moore said. "There's paperwork and procedures. Sometimes it's difficult to figure out how to get through all this paperwork and how to process things. We accept appointments for people to come in and get their case looked at, we just help them apply, but we don't make any decisions."
All you have to be to be involved is 55 years old. "Honestly. that's our primary audience," Moore said. "But we also will support their families as well. We can help anyone who needs assistance."
As with any assistance agency, Hope Chest needs funds to carry off its mission. "We rely a lot on support from the community, grants, and donations," Moore said. Donations are welcome and may be made in person or on the website.
Hope Chest has been in operation for three years now. The office is located at 5151 Gall Boulevard. Visit the website at Ourhopechest.org for more information and schedules. If you need additional information, you can reach Moore at (813) 815-8155 or by e-mail at
