16-05-2025
Carthage Crosslines to kick off million-dollar capital campaign
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage Crosslines Ministries is kicking off a capital campaign to raise $1 million to pay for an addition and a new thrift store.
Toni Smith, executive director, said the campaign starts with a 'Million Dollar Open House' from 4-7 p.m. Friday at the ministry, 600 E. Sixth St. in Carthage.
'That's what we need — $1 million,' Smith said. 'We already have about $200,000 in the bank, and we have a promise from Schreiber for another $75,000, so we're almost at $300,000 already. We've invited lots of donors, lots of people. Of course, we want their money, but we want to walk them through our building. We're going to have some food, and we're going to show them what we do. I'll have volunteers strategically placed in the building, and they'll have two minutes to introduce themselves and tell people about how they help with different areas, like the clothing area, the birthday gift area or the canned goods area. That way people can get done with a whole tour of the building and get a glimpse of our ministry in about 20 minutes.'
Smith said needs are growing in Carthage and that Crosslines needs to grow to meet them.
The plan is to construct a nearly 5,000-square-foot building on land the ministry owns just south of its current building.
She said she has a shed, a 20-foot-long shipping container and a 40-foot-long shipping container already full of donated clothes, household goods, toys and other items that she needs to put somewhere so it is more readily available for clients.
'From Monday through Thursday, everything we have at Crosslines is completely free for our clients,' Smith said. 'Friday and Saturday, whatever donation you bring to me may turn into laundry soap or some other hygiene item for someone in desperate need. About a year ago, we had a one-day sale in front of our store with clothes and stuff to raise money to buy Christmas presents for kids. It went so well I asked the board if we could do a thrift store in the building every Friday, use the money to buy hygiene products for our clients, birthday gifts for our kids, Christmas gifts and items for back to school. Our little thrift store has done so well we opened it on Saturday as well and made $20,000 out of those two little days last year. I spent over $10,000 on hygiene products and a couple thousand on our Christmas and our back-to-school kids.'
Carthage Crosslines also operates a food bank for people in need.
In addition to warehouse space, the new building will have garage space for the box truck and the forklift Crosslines recently bought with grants from Schreiber Foods.
People can call Carthage Crosslines at 417-358-1577 or go to the ministry's website, to get more information.
