by Mary Rupert
A four-year fundraising project culminated with a ribbon-cutting today for a new Cross-Lines Community Outreach building on Shawnee Avenue.
The new $1.5 million, 10,000-square-foot building will serve as a thrift store, food pantry and commodities program, said Susila Jones, Cross-Lines executive director. Cross-Lines is at 736 Shawnee Ave. in Kansas City, Kan.
“It is our first new building in our 50-plus year history,” Jones said. Cross-Lines began in 1963.
Cross-Lines’ thrift store currently is on South 7th Street at Shawnee Avenue, and the agency’s administrative offices are in an old church building to the west of the thrift store. The new building is located directly to the west of the administrative office.
The commodities program serving low-income seniors with 1,200 boxes of food every month will be located at the building, along with the food pantry serving the needy, Jones said. A thrift store, which sells and also gives away items, will be located in the new building, also, she said.
Mayor Mark Holland, attending the ribbon-cutting, said Cross-Lines has stepped up in a big way, investing in its infrastructure and leadership so it could help more people for a longer period of time.
The community need is not diminishing, but the quality of this organization has really stepped up in a great way, he said.
The mayor recalled that his father was a colleague of the late Rev. Don Bakeley, who started Cross-Lines, and there was a vision for many churches to come together for a place to serve the needy.
“We need Cross-Lines to be strong, and the steps you’ve taken culminating in this building really makes a statement to the city as a whole, your donors as a whole, and also to the people in need,” he said. “The people who are coming here to Cross-Lines deserve this caliber of a facility.”
Brad Culver, chair of the capital campaign for the building, said Bakely brought a level of passion and integrity that is still here today.
There is an open house scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight for the new building, at the corner of Shawnee Avenue and South Coy.
